


Elysa and Liam

by helladirections



Series: Elysa and Liam [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-01
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:13:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 35,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helladirections/pseuds/helladirections
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written in 2012-ish. I am sorry to everyone who reads this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Letter

Elysa’s POV

 

I was just a normal fan before it all started. No, I was never a normal fan. I was one of those fans that hated how much I fangirled. I was one of those fans who thought I would never ever get a chance to actually meet the boys. I limited how often I looked and pictures of them, how often I did anything relating to One Direction. But I was also one of those fans that had countless tumblrs with fanfiction and one shots bookmarked. 

Then, one day, I wrote a letter to the boys. Again, using my massive amount of dorkiness, I managed to build up that letter to be 8 pages long. One letter to all of them, talking about how I first became a fan, etc, a page just about my love/hate relationship with the beautiful/ugly state I live in (California), and then one letter to each of the boys separately followed by an entire page of questions. I looked up the price of mailing something from California to England online, bought five stamps, and sent the letter to the fan mail address online. Honestly, I didn’t even think they would read it. I was wrong.

Almost exactly a month later, they preformed their show in San Jose, California. If I were able to afford to go to a concert, that was the one I would have gone to. Instead, I spent the night doing homework and watching reruns of my favorite old cartoons. After finally finishing my massive workload, I opened my computer and went to twitter. I saw a tweet from each of the boys about how great the show was. But Liam’s was different. Liam mentioned a “special after concert snack” that a fan had told them about in a letter. My heart dropped. I had written in my letter that they should go to a specific In-N-Out after their show. But I looked at my clock and saw that it was nearly 11pm, far to late to drive to see them, especially since they might not even be there. 

About an hour later, Liam tweeted again. This time, with a picture of Niall eating a four-by-four with extra spread all over his face. I laughed, and that’s when I knew that they had read my letter for sure. I wasn’t sure what to do next though. Do I tweet to them? Do I write another letter? Do I do anything? 

Being as confused as I was, I decided it was best to just go to sleep. After all, this was One Direction, there was no way they actually wanted anything to do with a random high school kid from California. 

Liam’s POV

Just before we left for America I was sorting through some of our fan mail. Group, Harry, Zayn, Harry, Group, Me, Harry, Niall, Louis… They all had hearts all over them, some sprayed with perfume, our fan base was massive, and the sorting was taking forever. I was about to give up when one particular letter caught my eye. It was thicker than most, and had five very cliche looking American stamps on it. It was addressed to each of us, not with the band name, but with each of our names. The stamps told me it had come a very long way, so I would feel guilty to just throw it to the side like some of the others; when I saw it came from California, I felt even more guilty.

Niall ran through the building with a handful of food and his suitcase, yelling at me to hurry up before the car left for the airport. Without even thinking about it, I slipped the letter into my back pocket, grabbed my suitcase, and hopped out the door. 

To be honest, I had forgotten about it until well into the flight when I was trying to sleep. I had thought I was sitting on something, then I remembered the letter. The other boys were asleep already, so I opened it quietly and carefully. The outside read “Read outside page first”, so I did. 

This girl sounded amazing. She talked to me like she knew me already. She told me her secrets, her insecurities, her worries. And she told me how our first single had given her confidence to go out in public more. It was amazing. Her pictures, meant to be silly additions, were stunning, they caught my eyes immediately. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop reading after the group part of the letter and the letter just to me, I had to keep going. She told Harry about her boy issues, Louis about her family problems, Zayn about her grandparents, and Niall about her self confidence issues. By the end, I felt like I knew her better than she thought she knew me. 

Harry’s head fell off of Louis’ shoulder moments after I had finished reading the entire thing. His eyes cracked a bit, looked at me, then widened in an attempt to focus. He fixed his hair and asked what I had, so I explained simply “a fan from California wrote us a long letter, so I thought I’d read before we got there.” He smiled, he could see through my simple explanation, he knew there was more to it. “Lemme see” he spoke slowly, as usual.

By the time we landed, each of the boys had read their parts of the letter, I wouldn’t dare tell them I had read their parts too. She had confided in each of us as people, so I should respect her privacy. 

A few weeks later we flew across the country to California. I was excited to see San Francisco, but we had no time. Just before the show in San Jose I tidied my room, only to find the letter once more. I suddenly remembered that this letter had come from not far from where I was. I opened it again, to see if she had mentioned anything about coming to the show. I was hopeful and held my breath…until I read that she could not afford it. I sighed. Then I read on, a smile slowly formed on my face just as Niall was walking in. “hey, Niall, we should get food after the show” Of course he was all for it. Harry and Louis loved the idea too, they had loved In-N-Out the last time we were here. Zayn was in the bathroom the entire time up until we went on stage though, so I never really got a chance to ask.

The show ended and I was on a huge high that only got higher when I remembered the special treat we were headed for. I made sure to mention something in my tweet after the show, maybe that girl would see it. She said she had a twitter, but not what it was. 

We finally got there and ordered. We were surrounded by a population nothing like what we were used to. The normal cheeky teenage girls were probably all in bed getting ready for school tomorrow, it was only a few random locals eating there tonight. My normal smile had been replaced by a bit of a let down mood. Niall seemed to notice right away, so he promptly ordered a huge burger and smashed it all in face. The sight was hilarious, I HAD to take a picture of it. Then it hit me, if she really had a twitter, and saw this, she would know I had read her letter.


	2. The Pciture

I woke up the next morning and got ready for school like any other day. Backpack, check, lunch, check, breafast, check...I hopped in the car and turned on the radio to wake me up before my first big test of the day. About five minutes into my 20 minute drive, What Makes You Beautiful came on the radio. It was the song that first made me fall in love with One Direction because it made my insecurities go away just a little bit. It gave me just enough confidence to wear a cute new shirt, or shorter shorts than usual, etc. I smiled as I pulled into my normal spot in front of the school. The song ended and I turned off the engine. Just at that moment, I froze. I remembered everything that I had been trying to sleep off. 

Liam Payne read my letter, and tweeted about it.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. 

I couldn’t focus at all that morning. It didn’t help that I got all five boys’ tweets directly to my phone, along with a few friends. Every time my phone vibrated in my pocket in class I thought more about Liam. 

Finally, at lunch, I sat away from my friends. I couldn’t eat, there was too much on my mind. I fumbled with my phone before finally giving in to what felt right. I opened a new text and sent it to twitter “@real_liam_payne a letter=five stamps, your CD=five dollars, after school/concert snack=also five dollars” I had thought it was really clever, even though it was probably the dumbest thing I could have said. I took a deep breath, realizing I wouldn’t be able to delete what I had just posted until that afternoon when I got home to my computer. The bell rang and I went back to class.

Liam’s POV

 

I figured that the girl from the letter had gone to sleep by the time I tweeted anything the night before. Maybe she would see it in the morning? But what was the use? Our fan base is so massive that I wouldn’t be able to tell if was really the same girl who tweeted at me, if she even did. If she was really as embarrassed to be a huge fan like she said she was in the letter, I doubted she would publicly tweet at me. But still, I needed to find her.

I sat up in bed after waking up in yet another hotel room. I could already hear our girls down a few floors bellow screaming our names. But for the first time since I had been in America, I really didn’t care. I looked over at the clock, it was already the early afternoon, the jet lag must have really gotten to me. 

After wiping the sleep from my eyes, I opened my computer to check twitter. Maybe she saw. I told myself. Nothing yet. Fans everywhere begging to be retweeted or followed, it was my life now. But for once, I didn’t want that. I wanted to have a real conversation with this real girl. I opened the letter again, which I had been keeping next to my bed. The way she signed her name at the bottom was beautiful. She took so much pride in her hand writing. It was a little thing that made her seem more and more real to me. 

I looked back at twitter. Another mention. It was clever, very clever actually. The kind of humor that most people would find too dorky to actually post. “@real_liam_payne a letter=five stamps, your CD=five dollars, after school/concert snack=also five dollars” I favorited it and intended to follow yet another clever fan, then I saw her picture. My heart stopped, it was her, it was the girl that wrote the letter. I could tell from her beautiful long, dirty brown hair, I could tell from her blue eyes, I could tell from her intoxicating smile. Slowly, I clicked “follow”.


	3. The Mob

Elysa’s POV

One of the many things I hated about my school was trying to get out of the parking lot. With my last class as far from the lot as I could possibly get, there was at least 20 minutes of traffic trying to leave. I sighed as I inched my way through the parking lot, getting cut off and almost hit at every turn. Finally, I gave up and turned the radio on, hoping music would relax me just enough to get through here without hitting anyone. 

And of course, What Makes You Beautiful was the first song to come on. 

From that moment I couldn’t stay relaxed one bit. I promptly became the type of driver that I absolutely hated, cutting people off, driving aggressively. It seemed to work as I got out of there and home in record time. 

I ran inside the house, empty as usual, and strait to my computer. Immediately, I opened twitter. Nothing seemed remotely interesting, and I had somehow forgotten that I was going to delete my tweet to Liam. Then I realized that I had gained a follower in the day. I clicked my follower count only to see “@real_liam_payne” at the top. I froze. I couldn’t believe it.

I closed the tab, held my breath, then opened it again. I thought it was a mistake. It wasn’t. Liam Payne had followed me today. He had seen my tweet. But I couldn’t tell anyone about this. They would think I was absolutely crazy. 

After what felt like hours, but what probably only 30 seconds, of thinking, I decided it would only be polite to direct message him and thank him for the follow. I mentioned something about how I had written a letter, and had he gotten it yet, just to see. 

Liam’s POV

Two O’clock, three O’clock, three thirty, she had to be out of school by now..right? I just could not wait for her to get to her computer and say something else to me. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to hear her voice, and see her smile in person. While I waited I read through the letter one more time. It was signed “Elysa”, has perfect grammar, she clearly had a great vernacular as well. I don’t know why I noticed these things, I just did.

A knock on the door made me jump from my seat on the hotel bed. I could tell it was Niall because of the munching sound that came along with the knocks. I got up and let him, then sat back down on the bed. “Gimme that” Niall insisted, pulling my computer off of my lap. I didn’t even care. Elysa probably didn’t even see my tweet. I got up and went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face.

I could hear Niall laughing and eating as crumbs of the taco he stole from Harry slowly began to cover my bed. Then he stopped, “LIAM!” He screamed at me. I could tell something had caught his eye, because the normal smile on his face was gone. I walked over and saw that he was looking through the massive number of fans that I had started to follow over the last two days. He pointed right at Elysa.

“That’s her. The girl from the letter.” He recognized her just as I had, from her smile, her long hair, and bracelet covered wrists. “I know.” There was a silence. Then, something popped up in the corner. Niall handed the computer back to me as I clicked to see a new direct message. It was from Elysa.

Hi Liam. Thank you for following. I’m really weird and there is really no reason to follow me because I honestly don’t think that anything I say is of any use or interest to anyone besides myself, but I really do appreciate it. I hope you had a great time in San Jose last night. I wrote you a letter a little while ago telling you about California and me and other rambles, did you get it? -Elysa.

Niall looked at me after he had finished reading it over my shoulder. He could see in my eyes what I was going to say before I even said it. “I want to meet her.” He smiled and nodded, as if to say yes. Silently, he got up, brushed some of his crumbs off of the bed, and left the room. 

I was confused, Niall usually tried to pry every bit of information out of me that he could. Then moments later, it made sense. He reappeared through the door that he had cleverly propped open, Harry and Louis in hand. They sat down next to me on the bed, took the computer, and read the message. Moments later, Zayn appeared too. He sat with Niall at the hotel desk in the room. Harry looked up at me. 

“Do it.”

He spoke slowly. A smile formed on my face. I rose up to hug my friend with as much energy as I could, the other boys joined in as well. After smiles became contagious, I sat back down at my computer, allowing all the lads to see what I was typing.

We really did have a great night last night. And of course we got your letter. Didn’t you see us at your special In-N-Out last night after the show? I hope your day at school wasn’t too bad love, but I’d love to go to In-N-Out again, but with you to show me exactly what I should be getting. The lads and I are tricking Paul into taking us there around 4:30, he’ll think I left something there last night. If you can make it, it would be lovely. -Liam

I gulped, and left the room. Paul was just outside the door, and when I told him that I had left my favorite bracelet at the “restruant” last night, he sighed. “All right lads, looks like we’ll be making another outing today”

Elysa’s POV

I drove up to my favorite In-N-Out and held my breath. I hadn’t even played any music on my way over here simply because I couldn’t bring myself to believe this was actually happening. I pulled up and turned off my engine, but I just sat there for a few moments before moving, or even unbuckling my seat belt. I could NOT believe this was really happening.

But the moment I closed the door, I knew it was real. I knew it because I saw all the annoying girls in the area screaming, packing the small building. I walked up and opened the door slowly, trying not to hit any of the sardine-packed people inside. I used my California skill to maneuver my way to the counter. Not a single person was in actually in line, they were all just screaming. I wrote down my order on my phone and held it up to the cashier, since I knew there was no way she could have heard me. I paid, took my receipt, and sat down at the most isolated table in the corner I could find.

Silly me, I thought that screaming would subside after a few minutes. I was wrong. These girls had some AMAZING lungs. I looked over the counter and saw my order was ready, but even my great California skill could not get me through the crowed this time. I sighed, opened my phone, and tweeted:

Can’t even get my after school snack because of all these screaming girls…

I sent the message, and only seconds later my phone vibrated with a message from twitter. 

@real_liam_payne: I’ll get that for you.

I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me. He respected my privacy enough not to tag me in the tweet, or maybe he wasn’t even talking to me at all. Either way, I just sat there. 

Slowly, the mob of girls started to shift a bit. Mostly to make a path just wide enough for about half of an average person. I could tell by the top of the movie boy’s head that it was Liam. A small number of girls followed him, while the rest kept screaming to Harry, Louis, Niall and Zayn.

The curly brown hair on top of Liam’s head finally made it through to crowed and to the counter. He tried to grab my meal, but got a negative look from the cashier. He pointed over to me, and all of the girls turned their heads. They looked right passed me and into the parking lot, expecting to see Josh the drummer, or someone else famous. They saw no one and turned their attention back to Liam, but it was too late. Liam had used the short moment to get through the crowed just far enough to make eye contact with me. In a matter of seconds my food was placed down before me, along with a small slip of paper. I smiled up at the body that had brought it to me, but he was already gone. I swiftly grabbed my meal and the piece of paper and walked out of the building to sit in my car.

When I finally made it into safety, I took a breath. Sitting alone in that car was better than being outside at that moment. It was quieter, and I was freer in a way. I helped myself to some fries without even noticing as I carefully opened the small slip of paper. It had a phone number on it. I was stunned, but I couldn’t miss this chance.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to the number: Hey, it’s Elysa, who is this?


	4. The Cookie Woman

Elysa’s POV

It had been exactly two weeks since the mob at In-N-Out. Since then, I had spent almost every minute of every day that I was awake for texting Liam. He was such a real person. I complained about school, my family, obsessed over my friends and my favorite TV shows. He did the same, told me about what life on tour was like. If only they could have stayed in California for just a little bit longer. 

One night, after I had gone through an immense amount of drama, I was laying in bed staring at my ceiling. I could not get any of this out of my head though. I looked at the clock, 3:00AM it said. I sighed. I gave in to my technological desires and opened my computer yet again. The first thing I saw was a tweet from Harry complaining about the early morning. They were on the east coast, which meant it was 6:00AM at the time. I smiled.

I opened my door, being sure not to make a sound. Slowly I crept to the kitchen where I poured myself a glass of milk and stole a big fat chocolate chip cookie. Just as carefully, I crept back into my room. I picked up my beloved phone, replacing it with the milk and cookie. I sent a new text:

Hey Liam, I can’t sleep, so I got milk and a cookie. Except that I had to get it myself, I didn’t have a cookie man like you do.

I pressed send with a giant smile across my face. I liked to throw in little jokes that most of the fans knew when I could, just to remind him that I was a real person. I took a bite of my cookie, and not a second later got a reply. 

Next time call me up, I’ll be your cookie man(; Why can’t you sleep? Are you doing ok?

He cared so much about me, even when he was too tired for anything else. I smiled again, took a swig of milk, and replied.

Just drama today. You’d think my lack of male companionship would prevent stuff like this from happening, but I guess not…

The pattern continued. A bite of cookie, a swig of milk, a text to Liam, repeat. Before I knew it, it was 6:00AM here, 9:00AM where he was, and time for me to be getting ready for school. When I freaked out and rambled to Liam about how I would be late, he laughed at me. 

Somehow, in all the stress to get ready, I had forgotten that it was actually Saturday. Luckily, my brother reminded me when I tried to wake him up. Liam’s laugh made sense. Without another thought, I drifted to sleep…


	5. The Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mature chapter

Elysa’s POV

 

The warm shower water felt nice against my cool skin in the early morning. I leaned by head back into the stream of water to try and get control of it while washing. I closed my eyes as I scrubbed. I heard a short creek which might have come from the door, but I ignored it. I took a deep breath as I rinsed my hair and washed off my face. I heard the shower door open, and I stood still, still with my eyes closed.

I heard him step into the shower as the space between us got smaller. His hands made his way to my waist. I leaned back to feel him supporting me. My eyes were closed but I still knew it was Liam.

I smiled, and turned around slowly to face him. I didn’t even get a chance to open my eyes before his lips crashed down onto mine. I continued to smile through the kiss as our tongues intertwined, which only made him pull me in closer. I could feel his bulge growing in his boxers that he had kept on despite the running water and my lack of coverage. Without breaking our kiss, I moved my hand down to massage it through the thin cloth. He let out a slight moan in our kiss, and just when I could tell I was doing my job well, I stopped. 

His tongue froze when my hand stopped, and I pulled my face away from his. He looked at me confused, so smiled and continued to tease. I picked up my bottle of body wash and squirted out a small handful and began to rub it around my boobs. Liam’s questioning look went away as he watched with his full attention. Soon, he couldn’t take it any longer, and his lips once again made contact with my skin, but this time on my neck. I leaned my head back so that he could have better access to one of my weak spots. His sucking felt so good as he pushed me back against the wall of the shower.

I tugged at his boxers, still restricting his hardened cock. Liam got the message, and slid them off. I continued to kiss him, deeper and harder than before. He lifted me up, using the wall behind me to help him hold me above the ground as I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist. 

I looked into his eyes, which were now filled with lust, begging for more. I smiled and pecked his cheek cutely. That wasn’t enough. He carefully positioned himself at my entrance, and slid in. I let out a whimper, trying to get accustomed to his size. But he didn’t give me the chance.

Liam started slowly rocking in and out of me, this thrusts gradually becoming deeper, harder, and faster. I continued to let out moans and yell his name and his hips crashed against mine, shaking the wall and causing shampoo to fall from its shelf. 

I was close, and I knew it. Liam…I’m….I….. But I couldn’t finish. He got the point and threw himself further into me, further than I even thought possible. Finally I let out a scream of his name as my orgasm hit. It was just enough for him to reach his, as I felt him empty himself inside of me. We slowly came down from our highs, and looked at each other, still soaking wet from the running water over our heads. 

I smiled as he removed himself and let me down. I placed my hands behind his head as I gave one last, long, sweet kiss, and turned off the water. Liam stood in the shower, staring at my body, as I got out and wrapped a towel around me. 

You coming Payne?

 

He smiled as I stepped out of the humid bathroom and into my bedroom. I didn’t even bother putting on clothes before laying down in my bed with Liam’s arms wrapped around me. 

I woke up just as quickly as I had fallen asleep. I expected Liam to be there next to me still, like he was in the dream, but he wasn’t. Liam was on the East Coast, and I was sitting in my bed in California, shaken by the amazing dream I had just had. 

My phone vibrated, I looked, and it was Liam. I have something to tell you babe :) x


	6. The Good News

Liam’s POV

Elysa was the type of girl that I could talk to for hours on end and never get bored, she was the type of girl who could listen to me deepest secrets, desires, and worries, care about me, and then make a joke to lighten the mood. Elysa was exactly what I had always been looking for. Until I had had started talking to her, I had always pictured America, as vast as it is, being small enough to feel close to someone in any other part of the country. But now that changed. Although I was in America, I was in New York, and she was in California. It was like two completely different worlds. 

She was so cute too. Not just in the way she looked, but in the way she was. She constantly reminded me that she was just a regular fan, and not someone famous, by being completely down to earth and dorky. She even made a joke about the cookie man from my twit cam a while back. The thought that she was peacefully sleeping in her bed, along, without me, was as beautiful as it was horrifying. I wanted nothing more than for her to be happy, but there was no way of knowing how much I was actually a part of that.

Is there In-N-Out here? Niall was so cute. Food was the first thing he asked about when we went to a new place, and it was clear he had not gotten over Elysa’s recommendation from California. No, but I heard that hot dog stands are like a thing Harry let Niall down slowly as Zayn, Louis, and I laughed at our mate’s never ending pit that he called a stomach. We spent the next few minutes in the car laughing and smiling, but I couldn’t help it not to look at my phone and wonder what Elysa was dreaming about. 

She still asleep mate? Harry seemed genuinely interested in my relationship with Elysa. Think so. I looked up from my phone with half a smile. I could only hope she looked peaceful and beautiful as she slept and dreamt with all her heart. 

I was shaken out of my thoughts by Paul groaning loudly in the front seat into his phone. Really? NOW? There’s no way they can do it, do you understand how big this country is?!? He sighed and hung up his cell phone, a moment later turning around to face the five of us. Bad news lads, management wants to add in an extra surprise show in California, we fly out tomorrow. 

I couldn’t believe it. I would be going back to California, TOMORROW. I HAD to tell Elysa. I knew she was probably sleeping still, but I couldn’t hold back the temptation to send her a text. I have something to tell you babe :) x Somehow I knew the suspense would make the news even more exciting. I pressed send and a giant smile formed on my face, which Niall immediately laughed at. 

I didn’t even care though. Niall could do whatever he wanted, and it wouldn’t change how ecstatic I was. Harry of course spent a few minutes complaining about the lack of sleep that would be coming his way, completely oblivious to anything else happening in the car. They have In-N-Out there! Niall nearly screamed after his realization. Louis’ laugh shook Harry out of his trance, causing him to come to his own realization. Doesn’t Elysa live there? He smirked, Zayn nudged me as if to make me feel bad, but nothing could take away the ecstasy I felt at that moment when she responded. 

Just woke up from a nice nap, what’s up? 

I tapped out my message much quicker than usual, not giving my mind a chance to wander into thoughts of her beautiful sleeping that had taken up so much of my mind previously. 

Management just added a surprise show in California. I fly out tomorrow. I could get you VIP tix if you wanted?

I sat, more nervous than before, what if she said no?

Elysa’s POV

 

I would have screamed when he told me, if it wasn’t for the fact that I had only just woken up. I couldn’t believe it. Me, the normal, high school girl from California who could never afford a concert ticket in the first place, was going to get VIP tickets to a surprise show in two days. I think that’s was when it first really hit me. All along I had been down playing the entire situation, saying that he was famous and could never want anything to do with me. But at that moment, I realized what we had was real, we were friends. I was friends with Liam Payne…

Not more than a second later I remembered the dream that I had just woken up from. Instead of the smile that it first brought me, it nearly brought me to tears. It felt wrong, it felt creepy, it just didn’t feel right. I would never have a dream like that about any of my other guy friends. 

I shook myself from my thoughts and decided it was just a crazy dream that I had no control of. I looked back at my phone and once again smiled as I tapped out a reply to Liam. You are amazing. I can’t wait to see you finally. When / where is it?

Liam’s POV

 

It felt as though Elysa was taking forever to respond. Thoughts swirled in my brain as I awaited her response. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this nervous for a text from a girl, the last time I felt like this about a girl. I think that was when it hit me that I had truly fallen for Elysa. I wanted nothing more than to hold her close to me at night, to feel her smile as we kissed, to…

No. I had to stop. There was no way she felt like this about me. The way I was thinking was wrong, it was creepy, it just didn’t feel right. I would never have thoughts like that about any of my other female friends.

Finally, she responded. At first I was enthralled, it felt like I was in bliss just because she had said yes. And then I really read her words : I can’t wait to see you finally. At that moment, I realized it. I had only briefly seen her appear in person, had spent hours mesmerized by her pictures, and the better part of my days texting her about everything the world could imagine, but we had still never met. What if she was different in person. What if I was different person. What if meeting would actually ruin our entire friendship?


	7. The Car Ride

Elysa’s POV

 

The past two days had gone by so slowly. I was counting down the minutes in class more impatient than ever. I just wanted it to be Friday night. I just wanted to be at the show. I had always dreamed of seeing One Direction live. I had always wanted to meet them. Each of the boys seemed so amazing in their own way. But this was something else. I wouldn’t just be meeting ONE DIRECTION, I would be meeting Harry, Niall, Zayn, Louis, and the boy I had just fallen head over heals for, Liam. I couldn’t even get the concept completely through my brain, which made it even more difficult to get new algebraic concepts in there too.

But finally, the day had come. I woke up early in the morning and got dressed for school. It was like if I got to school earlier, school would actually end sooner. Even though it didn’t, it was I could do to rush the day by. 3:15 and bell went off, I left my 6th period class and headed for the parking lot as usual.

Halfway there I passed by a group of popular girls. I heard they have a surprise concert tonight, but I have no idea where. I smiled as I kept going, I was living these girls dream. These girls who had tormented me all my life. Of course, they would never know that I was living their dream. My own family didn’t even know. They thought I was going camping.

Finally I made it into my car and out of the parking lot. A quick stop at home to pick up my “camping” supplies, even though my older brother was the only one there, and he didn’t care what I did with my life, I kept up the lie anyway.

I knew it was too early to head over to the concert, so I stopped at In-N-Out, thought it would be a good chance to tease Niall when I finally got there. I was actually tempted to buy extra food and bring it to them, but I knew Paul would probably have a problem with them eating a huge meal just before going on stage, so I held off.

I looked at my phone, 5:00pm. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I texted Liam to let him know I was on my way. 

The next hour or so was such a blur. Liam had included a VIP parking pass for me, so after the frustrating amount of traffic trying to park, I actually got valet service. I was still in shock though, I had no idea where I was going, or what I was doing, until I saw Paul outside of a door, shielding girls from breaking into it. 

I walked over, holding my purse close to my body to make sure it would be ripped away from me in the crowd. I tried to ask where to go, but he couldn’t even hear me, so I pulled out my VIP pass and showed Paul that instead. He smiled at me and pointed to a black car that looked like the one the boys usually traveled in. I was still confused, but I followed his silent instructions. 

Once again using my California skill, I maneuvered my way through the insane crowd. These girls had posters, they had costumes, and they were screaming. Me? I was wearing my favorite jeans, a cute belt, and a t-shirt. I felt like I didn’t fit in, but I never fit in, so it wasn’t a very new feeling.

I finally reached the car, it was just quiet enough to be able to speak. I held up my pass again as a man smiled. You must be Elysa? I blushed. I wondered what Liam had told management about me. I wondered what they thought about me. But there was no time to contemplate it at the moment, I got into the back seat of the car with a few other girls, and they took off.

The car was dark, even though the sky was still bright out. As we moved, the screaming moved with us. I chuckled a bit, those girls must have thought that we were the boys. That’s when I noticed who the other girls in the car were. The back seat of the car I was sitting in held some of the boys sisters, and me. I was in shock.

You must be Elysa. A friendly voice next to me said. Hi. I responded very timidly. I’m Gemma, and that’s Lottie sitting across from you, those girls sleeping are Felicite and Saffa. I had no idea what to say in response, so I kind of just sat there, staring at girls that I never thought I would ever meet. 

Don’t be scared of us! Gemma was so nice, and sweet, and kind. Everything I thought she would be. Liam’s sisters got sick, so he told us you would be coming to the show tonight. I smiled, and said “cool”. Gemma laughed a little again, and the rest of the ride was silent…aside from the screaming girls outside.

Liam’s POV

I was sitting back stage with the lads like always. It was one of those moments where I just sat back, and smiled, completely content with my life at the moment. It was as if nothing could be better. In just about an hour I would be going on stage with my four best friends to do what I love most, get paid for it, and then spend time with the girl I had fallen for. There was honestly nothing that could bring me down from this high right now.

Paul came into the room reading off of his clipboard, and turning down Niall when he asked for more food. He told us that the VIP guests would be coming back stage in a few minutes, so Harry, put on some clothes. I laughed as he walked away. My smile only grew when I realized that Elysa would be one of those VIP guests. I didn’t have much time for my mind to wander though, as Baby Lux wandered in the room instead. I swear, the cutest little baby that could ever exist was sitting in my arms now. 

Just then, Gemma, Lottie, Felicite, and Saffa came walking in, laughing with each other and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. All of our sisters were wonderful, but they could never quite get used to the jet lag that came along with visiting us on tour. 

To be honest, I didn’t pay all that much attention to them. I was so caught up in Baby Lux at the moment, baby talking, playing with her hands and feat. I really was a Daddy Directioner at that moment. 

But suddenly, Lux lost all of my attention. I heard a new voice as she said “Hi” to Paul. I could hear by the sound of her voice that she was shy, confused, hesitant. I knew immediately it was Elysa. 

I probably would have dropped Baby Lux at that very moment if not for Niall taking her from me. He always felt a bit sad when our sisters came and he was alone, without his brother Greg because of the distance, so he resorted to Lux to keep him company. 

I shot up out of my seat and caught Elysa’s eyes as she came through the door. I’m sure the smile on my face was huge and embarrassing, but at that moment, I didn’t even care.


	8. The Couch

Elysa’s POV

The moment I walked into the room Liam’s eyes made a connection with mine. There was no denying it. I was entranced by his beautiful deep brown eyes looking into my own, now seemingly boring, blueish greenish ones. I saw a smile form on his face, which made me blush. We stood there, awkwardly looking at each other for a few seconds.

Then finally, he took a step toward me “Hi Elysa” he said. The way he said my name with his beautiful accent was intoxicating. I could just listen to him talk for hours on end and I knew I would never get bored of his voice. “hi Liam” I responded shyly. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Harry smirking at my awkward encounter. I rolled my eyes at him and he looked away.The next moment, Liam’s arms were wrapped around me. I stood still for a moment, in shock of what was happening, but soon I embraced him as well. Liam was the most amazing hugger I had ever experienced.

Liam released me from his warmth and looked at me again with a smile. He put an arm around my shoulders and proceeded to introduce me to the others in the room.

Harry was very cheeky, as I had suspected he would be. He lifted his eye brows at me during our introduction, and I proceeded to once again roll my eyes at him, which made Niall break out in laughter.

Niall was exactly like I thought he would be. Funny, carefree, easy going. His accent was almost more fun to listen to than Liam’s, almost. I asked him if he had had a chance to make it to In-N-Out on this trip yet and his face lit up as he told me about his new discovery of animal fries. 

Louis came up and hugged me nicely, he was so sweet. I knew I would be seeing the mischievous side to him shortly, however. He wore his signature stripes and red pants as he whispered something to Liam that only made him blush. I couldn’t help but wonder what he had said.

I looked over and saw Zayn in the corner with Saffa, laughing about some joke that I suppose was only funny if you were a part of their family. His hair was styled as usual, and he was far from clean shaven.

“So, that’s the gang, I guess.” Liam shrugged and led me to one of the couches in the room. “Usually we have interviewers bugging us right now, but since this show was supposed to be a surprise and all…” I was happy there were no interviewers, because I knew they would be asking who I was, and I was honestly a bit afraid to hear Liam’s answer.

It wasn’t until we sat down that I realized how silent I had been so far. There were so many things that I had always dreamed of saying to all of them, and now that I really had the chance, I couldn’t string any words together. I looked over at Liam, remembering that he was the same boy I had been texting about my life for so long, and suddenly felt a little more comfortable.

“Did they read the letter too?” I asked Liam. He opened his mouth to answer, but Niall interrupted “We all did.” I blushed. On one hand, I was glad that they all had read my letter, that they had heard what I wanted to say to them, but on the other, it was weird seeing them in person afterwards. I realized how much each of them knew about me. I suddenly realized that although I might have been meeting all of them for the first time, they weren’t exactly meeting me for the first time. They each knew so much about me.

“I hope I didn’t come off too dorky…” I tried to appoligize. Harry looked at me and smiled and said “never”. He was so sweet.

Liam was giggling a bit at my awkwardness. I gave him a jokingly nasty look, to which he replied “what?” and we laughed it off together. “nothing,” I said, “It’s just weird finally meeting you guys in person after you already know so much about me…I guess.”

All five of them smirked and let out a little chuckle. “Well we must of liked what we know, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, would you?” Louis smirked. It kind of hit me then, there must be something about me that they all like.

Moments later Paul came back in, calling Harry and Gemma over to take some pictures, Zayn and Saffa to the stylist, and Louis, Lottie, and Felicity to meet some fans who had won a radio contest. Niall, not wanting to be left out, ran along as well. Suddenly, it was just Liam and I alone in the room.

I looked at him awkwardly, but he some how made me feel more comfortable as the awkward feeling began to slowly melt away. He smiled at me, “how was your math test today?” I had almost forgotten about the earlier portion of my day. I scooted in closer to him, feeling protected by someone who was at least a friend, as I told him all about my annoying math teacher and how much I hate factoring. I rambled for what felt like hours. Before I knew it, I was cuddled up against Liam closer than I ever thought possible.

Paul came in the room, “five minutes Liam”

I looked up at my friend’s face. It was beautiful and flawless, there was nothing anyone could say that would change that. “just a moment” he responded, as Paul politely walked back from where had come from.

Liam must have noticed me admiring him at that moment, because soon, I could feel his eyes peering into mine. “You’re lovely, you know that Elysa?” I looked away shyly as I blushed. “hey” He took his finger on my chin and moved my head back to face him, “Don’t do that, I mean it” I continued to blush.

Before I knew it, Liam had placed a small, sweet, peck on my cheek. I couldn’t help but feel completely embarrassed. I looked into his eyes for a moment, but I think he must have felt just as embarrassed as I did as he got up quickly and said “see you after the show”.


	9. The Concert

Liam’s POV

I got up from the couch and walked away as quickly as I could. All I could think about was how I could have ruined our friendship. Our amazing friendship. But I cared about her as so much more than a friend. And she wouldn’t have cuddled with me like that if she wasn’t interested, would she?

Harry must have noticed my scattered thoughts as I walked up to the side of the stage with the lads. “Cheer up mate, don’t let a chick bring you down” What he didn’t understand was that she hadn’t brought me down. Elysa was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I already knew it. It was getting loud, and I didn’t have time so explain, so I just took a deep breath and nodded in his direction.

The crowd that night was amazing. Probably one of the best we ever had. The were so loud, it was mental. Someone even threw a teddy bear up on stage, and it was dressed like me! I always knew we had the best fans, and every show just proved that point even further.

About half way through the show I looked over to just off stage and saw Elysa there, with the biggest smile I had ever seen on another person’s face. It was so beautiful that I almost forgot my part in Up All Night. I pointed to her and smiled as I crossed back to the other side of the stage to continue the show.

It was then I decided that this show was for her. This show was her and all the girls in the world like her. The ones that always think that they aren’t good enough, the ones with strong emotions, the ones who are ready to break at any second. It was for the ones that go through an insane life, and still manage to be stronger than anyone their age should have to be, and the ones that don’t mind their dorkiness, and that go out on a limb to get something they want. This show was for Elysa, and every girl in the world like her.

Elysa’s POV

I wanna stay up all night… That had to be one of my favorite pump up songs. I listened to it blasting in my car all the time. It kept hitting me at weird moments that I was actually at a One Direction concert, that I was actually friends with Liam Payne. And then the best part hit me, he had kissed me. It was only on the cheek, but still, he had kissed me. And since no boy in my life had ever liked me in any way other than a best friend, that was a pretty big deal for me.

Liam looked so happy while he was up there. I couldn’t blame him, the crowd was louder than anything I had ever experienced before. I was lost in thought when he looked over at me, smiled, and winked. I giggled a bit when he turned around to cross the stage.

And as if not enough revelations had hit me that night, another one suddenly came. I’ve fallen for this boy…

***

The concert ended and my shy, embarrassed self felt the need to avoid Liam, even though I wanted nothing more than to be with him. I retreated back to the room we had been sitting in before the concert, and sat on the same couch. The second I heard footsteps coming down the hall I pulled out my phone to look occupied. I was relieved when it was Niall who came in the room first.

“hey” I said. He nodded his head and came over to sit next to me. “you like the show, mate?” I laughed, of course I did. They were amazing. Next thing I knew, I had gone off on a tangent about how much I loved the group. Niall just smiled and laughed the entire time.

A few minutes later, the rest of the boys crossed through the room to go to their dressing room. Liam looked at me and smiled, it was awkward. “He really likes you, Elysa. You know that, right?” I was taken aback completely. “I gotta go change, catch ya later” What just happened?…


	10. The Hotel Room

Liam’s POV

I walked into the dressing room, just thinking to myself how awkward the situation had been. I shook myself out of it though as I changed into an old T shirt and some grey sweats. Niall walked in the room after the rest of us and came up to me. I had seen him sitting and talking with Elysa when I got off the stage.

“bonding with Elysa, mate?” He laughed and nodded at me. “What’s the deal with her anyway?” Zayn asked me as he mindlessly searched for a specific come. I sighed, I had no idea what to say. “that bad?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Ignoring the lads pestering questions, I walked out of the room to see Elysa chatting away with Gemma. “Don’t scare her Gem!” We all shared a laugh. “I should be heading out anyway, Harry doesn’t like me around after the shows, says I get in the way of the girls” I took her seat on the couch next to Elysa.

I nervously looked at my watch, not knowing what else to do. It was 11pm, and by California law, Elysa couldn’t drive herself this late at night. I took a deep breath, unsure of what I was about to do, but I did it anyway.

Elysa’s POV

 

We were sitting next to each other in the car with the other boys heading back to the hotel. It was sweet of Liam to have me over for the night since I couldn’t legally drive at this time of night, but I was a little nervous of what he was going to try for. I tried to just push those worries to the back of my head and remind myself that regardless, he was my best friend at the moment.

I don’t think it was until that car ride that I realized how truly funny Zayn really was. I knew he and Louis joked around a lot with each other during interviews, but I really didn’t get it until that night. He had perfect comedic timing, something funny to say every time he opened his mouth.

These boys, all of them, were such amazing people, greater than I ever could have imagined from watching interviews. I still couldn’t believe I was really sitting in this car with them, heading to their hotel for the night.

By the time we got to the hotel, Louis and Zayn had fallen asleep, Niall was busy with his phone, and Harry was daydreaming out the window. I suddenly realized that Liam and I had been holding hands for most of the car ride, but instead of pulling back, I smiled and grabbed a bit tighter. He turned to face me and I saw and amazing twinkle in his eye.

“Well, this is goodnight” Louis said to me, while winking at Liam. I rolled my eyes at him and hugged him “goodnight” as the boys all went their separate ways to their rooms. Liam led me down the hall to his own room, and opened the door. “Well, this is it,” he said sort of skeptically.

IT? Liam had a suite. I had never had a suite in a hotel before. I think he saw the look on my face as I silently explored the room. He giggled a bit and plopped himself down on the bed. “I was thinking of doing a twitcam tonight, but you’ll have to be SILENT. They can’t know you’re here” I agreed and sat down on the other side of his computer as he opened it up and started his twitcam.

I had always seen how much fun he had while talking to fans like this, but seeing him in person was just something else. His smile was even brigther than I thought possible. I could just sit and stare at him for hours, but I knew how creepy that would have been.

Pretty quickly we invented our own sort of sign language, this way I could ask him how many viewers he had, that sort of thing. I also asked a few questions, wrote them down and slide them across the table. I think the rest of the fans started picking up on that pretty quickly though. “No one is here! Just me and my..ghost!” Liam was such a bad liar, and everyone knew it. Just like the cookie man a couple months back, “Liam’s ghost” soon started to trend.

“Alright guys, my ghost is getting a bit tired, talk soon, I promise!” I could only imagine the ridiculous trends that were probably appearing right now. And to be honest, if I wasn’t here, I would totally have been a part of them.

He switched off his camera and closed the computer with a deep sigh. He smiled at me as he flopped down on the bed behind him and patted the fluffy white sheets beside him. “What am I supposed to sleep in?” I asked him. His face dropped, neither of us had really thought of that up until now. Then a lightbulb went off inside of that mind of his. He got up and tossed one of this plaid shirts and basketball shorts at me and chuckled. “Get cozy” he told me. I slipped into the bathroom to change.

I came back out and joined my friend on the bed, cuddling, as friends? Honestly, I couldn’t figure out what we were anymore. But I knew we were comfortable together, I knew he made me feel safe. I cuddled in a bit further and started talking to him about the twitcam and some of the jokes and questions that got tweeted at him. “you never let me forget that you’re a normal fan, huh?” He was right, I didn’t want to change just because I was friends with him.

We talked for hours on end about everything in the universe. Divulging the few secrets we still had from each other. He was such an easy person to talk to. I felt as if I had known Liam for my entire life. Our talking slowed and breathing got deeper. I looked over at the clock, it was 3am. My head was comfortably on Liam’s chest, his arm was wrapped around me, keeping me safe and warm.

“Elysa, I am so glad you wrote me that letter”. I smiled and moved my head up to face his a bit. “me too” I stumbled to say something more, but Liam had sat up. “i’m tired Li-” He cut me off with a kiss. It was sweet and he was very careful not to push the boundaries, he knew I didn’t have much experience in this department. At first I was still, but I eventually warmed up to his lips and worked with them. It was only a short kiss, but it felt like it could have lasted for hours.

I finally pulled away from him. “I’m a virgin Liam” I felt a bit embarrassed, but after stories I had heard from the boys, I felt the need to say it. He chuckled, “I know, I wasn’t going to. I just, I’ve been wanting to kiss you…” I leaned forward and hugged him, the longest hug I think I have ever experienced. Eventually, we both layed back down, and drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.


	11. The Second Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mature chapter

Liam’s POV

The sun shone through the windows of my bedroom as my eyes started to open. I rolled over to the most beautiful girl in the world laying beside me. I couldn’t help but smile. She looked like an angel as she slept. Everything about her was perfect, even her flaws just made her more amazing.

Her eyes opened slowly as she must have felt me admiring her. “good morning” she said with a cheeky smile. I kissed her forehead to greet her into the day. She chuckled a bit. “Not there, here” she moved her face to be even with mine as our lips met. The short kiss resulted in huge smiles from both of us. “I wasn’t done yet” I pouted, and once again connected our lips. My favorite part of our kisses were the smiles we shared through them.

I guess my puppy dog pouting had gotten through to Elysa, because she let my tongue enter her mouth without any hesitation. Our mouths worked together in perfect time and rhythm. There was no fight for dominance as we were both still working the sleep out of our muscles.

Her body wiggled a bit and allowed my arm to wrap beneath her to feel her back. She smiled as I felt around for the clasp of her bra and realized that as most nights, she wasn’t wearing one. I started by trying to slip my hand under the hem of the back of her shirt, but halfway there I changed my mind. With my large hands in the small of her back, I led her up to roll on top and straddle me. 

Our kiss split for a moment and our gazes met. Her eyes looked beautiful, even this early in the morning. The light through the windows shimmered off her blue-green eyes that I loved to stare into.

I rubbed my hand up her back a bit, as she took the hint and let me remove the over-sized shirt she had been wearing to sleep in. Her breasts were revealed to me for the first time, they looked absolutely lovely. It knew it was something she was insecure about, their size, but I thought that they could not have been more perfect.

I leaned forward to try and suck on her nipples that seemed to just be begging for attention. But instead of soft skin, I tasted the clean fabric of the pillow. Without opening my eyes, I rubbed the taste off of my tongue, and felt the body next to me adjusting.

I looked over, and saw Elysa there, gently sleeping next to me. It was 10am. Although the hotel room windows were closed, her hair still managed to sparkle. She looked even more lovely than she had in my dream. I smiled, and kissed her forehead to wake up my sleeping beauty.

As she opened her eyes, I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t gotten too caught up in my dream and taken it too far.


	12. The Day Off

Elysa’s POV

I had actually been awake for a while before I noticed Liam shifting from his place. I still couldn’t believe where I was and what was happening. There was almost nothing Liam didn’t know about me, almost nothing I didn’t know about him, I had never been this close with a person in my life. And then last night, we kissed.

I took a deep breathe and opened my eyes to see the most beautiful human lying next to me. Liam kissed my forehead and giggled. Anyone else probably would have kissed him right then, but with my limited experience, I really didn’t know what to do. So I just sort of looked at him, the sparkles in his eyes.

I really loved this boy. He wasn’t my best friend anymore, he never really was. From the moment we started talking I felt something more towards him, and his kiss last night proved that he must have felt the same way about me. It was weird for me though, nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

I was shaken out of my trance when my phone vibrated. I groaned at the early morning as I rolled over to pick it up. It was my brother “When are you coming home? I think my Giant’s shirt is in your room and I need it.” I rolled my eyes. My brother might have been older, but for some reason I felt like I was taking care of him today. Other days he would be my parent, I loved my brother, but he could also be such a pain.

“What was that?” Liam began to sit up, genuinely interested in my life. “Just my brother, I stole his shirt and he got mad.” Liam chuckled. I tapped out a message back to my brother trying to tell him where it was. But he really had asked a good question…when would I be home?

I turned over to ask Liam how I would get back to my car, which was still at the venue from last night, but he had rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom. 

Liam’s POV

I walked into the bathroom and locked the door carefully behind me. I stood, just staring at myself in the mirror. I was nervous, I was shaking. I didn’t even know why. Why had I even walked into the bathroom? Ahh I felt like I needed to scream. Instead, I splashed some water on my face, gave myself a silent pep talk, and walked back into the room where Elysa was.

The second I opened the door I was frozen. Elysa was changing back into her own clothes and hadn’t noticed me come back into the room. She looked even more stunning than I imagined. It wasn’t like she was wearing super frilly underwear or anything like that, she wasn’t even perfectly skinny like so many girls strive to be, she was just Elysa, and she was perfect.

Less than a second later she turned around and saw me and dropped to the ground, covering herself. I turned around quickly and apologized about a thousand times. I stuttered, I felt so horrible, and locked myself back into the bathroom. I had to take another few deep breaths, but finally, Elysa knocked on the door and said it was alright to come out.

I apologized again. I could almost feel the awkward in the room. Lukily I heard a knock on the door, just in time to break up the horrible feeling that was starting in the pit of my stomach.

I walked over the door and Niall and Louis ran in. I think they didn’t expect Elysa to still be there, because they started cheering and making jokes at me for having her over last night. “It wasn’t like that boys!” I told them. Harry was extremely skeptical, but Louis seemed to notice Elysa in the corner of the room, somewhat blushing.

“Oh, hey there Elysa. Hope Liam wasn’t too rough on you last night” I elbow jabbed him as hard as I could, I could NOT believe he just said that to her. To my surprise, she was able to laugh it off. It was a huge sigh of relief.

“So Liam, what are we doing today? Don’t know of much excitement for our day off this time…” Louis just craved excitement everywhere we went, all I wanted this time was to spend some time with Elysa and figure out what there was between us.

Elysa’s face looked confused. I guessed I hadn’t told her that I had today off. “I don’t know, what is there to do around here?” I turned to ask Elysa. She thought for a moment, I knew I would have to take her back home so she could get a change of clothes first, and her car, or maybe we could just go shopping instead? I didn’t want to lose a moment of my time with here today.

Before she could answer, Niall started jumping up and down. “Let’s go to the toy store, no, the water park, no..” He just kept going as the three of us laughed. I looked over to Elysa, who was deep in thought of our options for the day, suddenly, her face lit up.

Elysa’s POV

To be honest, I hated this city. San Francisco held so many bad memories of my past, but I knew how badly the boys wanted to see it. And even though it’s a well known city, everyone here was relatively oblivious. I didn’t think there would be any paparazzi or anything since the show had been in San Jose.

The boys car drove us the hour up north. Liam held my hand the entire way. He knew how tough it was for me to be in this city. His thumb stroking on the back of my hand relaxed me a bit as I gave the boys a verbal tour. I made this drive, or at least parts of it, almost every day driving between my homes and my friend’s homes. They seemed rather amused by my stories.

Finally, we reached the city. Now the thing to know about San Francisco is that there are only really four areas I’ve ever spent time in there. The Sunset district, where my Dad grew up, the Baseball field, one of the community centers, and the Presidio, which was my favorite of the four. So that’s where I took them.

The car pulled to a stop in front of one of the better kept-up buildings, and I squeezed myself out of the car. The boys had thought I was crazy for wearing longs pants and bringing a sweatshirt, it was so sunny and warm in San Jose. But now that we were in San Fransisco, they envied me.

“Honestly, I haven’t spent much time here before, I’ve just always thought it was really pretty and interesting.” Liam hugged me and reached back out for my hand as we entered a building with a sign in front that led me to believe someone in there could show us around, or at least give us a hint of where to go. Harry shivered the entire time, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “My nipples are so hard, it’s freezing!” He was such a complainer, but he could totally get away with it too, since he was so freaking cute.

Inside the building there was a small gift shop, and I was able to talk Liam into buying me a new T shirt. Well to be honest, it was Liam’s idea, the problem was that it had stripes and Louis got a little bit hot headed. It was sort of funny though.

After each of the boys also bought their own new SF swag, I was able to drag them out of the small room. We walked up to the desk where a little old man was sitting, reading his magazine. He seemed utterly bothered by our pure existence. I could see in Zayn’s face that he was appalled. It was something I was used to though. People around here are either really nice, really rude, or really crazy.

The small man pointed at some maps on the wall, still angered that we had bothered him with such a trivial question. I stood back for a moment, watching Harry and Louis try to find our location. It took them at least two minutes to realize that they were holding the map upside down. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight.

“It’s too cold here anyway!” Harry complained, throwing the map back into its original spot, giving up. “Let’s go somewhere else and get ice cream! We’re in Cali-fucking-ornia!”

So, not willing to fight with a grumpy Harry, Liam took my hand again and led me out of the small building so we could head towards the car. The car was sitting just a few yards from the door of the building, but the boys made it seem like it could have been miles. Shivering in their shorts and T-shirts they rushed to the car, yelling at me to hurry up so they could close the door. I chuckled as I quickened my pace just a bit.

“Where to now?” Paul asked me, as if I had any idea where the boys were wanting to go. I sat still, thinking for a moment, before finally saying “home”


	13. The Tumblr Post

Liam’s POV

I was shocked when Elysa decided to take us to her home. She had told me about her parents never being around, and her brother being an awkward mix of over-protective and not caring. I looked at her curiously, and saw her take a deep breath before smiling. I’m not sure if she was reassuring herself, or me, but it did seem to help.

We arrived at her house. It was in a nice quiet neighborhood, there were kids playing in the street, the typical California suburban lifestyle. As the car pulled up to an averaged sized house, Elysa’s breath quickened. I reached for her hand, but she pulled away a bit. I could tell she was nervous.

We entered her house and she shouted “I’m home!” but there was no response. It was probably for the better. The house was really nice. It looked like they had lived here for years.

“so, this is it. Not very impressive, sorry. There’s the kitchen, I’m gonna go run and take a shower.”

And with that, Elysa was gone, and it was just the five of us. We all kinda stood around awkwardly for a moment, not exactly sure what to do. Then, as per usual, Niall headed strait for the kitchen, opening every cabinet and door. We all chuckled. Louis pushed him aside so that he could prepare proper sandwiches for us.

I went over to the table with Zayn and Harry. “She’s amazing” Zayn told me. I couldn’t help but blush. Harry gave me a nudge to tease me and I gave him a bit of a death stare.

“She’s in the shower right now, NAKED” Harry was so immature, but what else could you expect? “You should go join her before I do.”

Niall and Louis walked back into the room with five nicely made sandwiches in hand. We sat there eating, talking about how much colder the city was than we thought it would be. Wasn’t this California? Weren’t we supposed to be getting massive tans?

They took every opportunity to tease me as we sat there. Until Louis and Zayn decided to be a bit more mischievous than before. “I bet we could find her room..” Louis didn’t even wait for a response from the rest of the lads as he took off down the hall. The first door he opened was a closet, the second her brother’s room, then the third, Elysa’s room.

“It’s over here!” He sort of whisper-yelled so we could hear but not to disturb Elysa in the shower. Harry scampered off, excited to see what he would find, but I took my time. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see what was in there.

I eventually made it to the door and peered in. It was an average bedroom, sort of small. Messy, notes covering the walls, cute quotes, no posters of us though, which made me feel good. Harry and Louis were sitting on her bed, looking through her yearbook from the year before. It was quite funny actually. They would look at the signatures, then try to find a picture of the person to see if any of her friends would fit their weird standards.

Zayn had made his way over to Elysa’s bookshelf, browsing for who knows what, making small sounds of approval every once in a while. It was an average book collection, girly books, Harry Potter, the usual.

Niall must have been the funniest though. He was searching through her closet and dresser. I’m not exactly sure what he was looking for, but he pulled out and assessed the clothes as if they were his own. Eventually, he opened a drawer and pulled out a bra, he laughed way louder than he should have.

“Put that down Niall!”

“yeah, those belong to Liam!” Harry gave me a face and laughed. I rolled my eyes and joined the lads on the bed. “But actually though, how was last night in the hotel?”

I took a deep breath. Then I let it all come out. I told them about the twitcam, and our bonding. I told them about cuddling and talking before bed, and how I had taken a leap and kissed her before going to sleep. Then how in the morning I had accidentally seen her changing. They tried to poke fun at that, but they all knew how embarrassed I truly was.

“But really mate, does she put out?” I could not believe how rude Harry was being. Actually, I sort of could. It was the question on all of their minds. I had to explain how she was still a bit young, still a virgin, had never actually had a boyfriend before. They thought it was adorable. Honestly, I did too. I wanted to be able to lead her through life a bit, to show her the ropes. I liked the idea of her innocence.

Zayn changed the topic quickly, asking what we all thought about the color on the walls. I was confused until I looked towards the doorway and saw that Elysa was standing there in her towel with evil eyes, asking us all to leave.

“sorry, sorry!” I rushed out, the lads followed suit and she closed the door behind us. I heard some drawers being opened and closed, and Elysa humming a nice melody to herself as I imagined she was getting dressed. She looked so beautiful standing there in her towel, I wanted to rip it off of her and see all there was to see, but I knew that I couldn’t.

A few minutes later Louis knocked on her door, “ready princess?” he said, poking a bit of fun. She didn’t respond, Louis knocked again, “princess?” then we heard the sniffles and the tears. I pushed Louis out of the way and opened the door to see Elysa sitting in her sweats at her computer, tears streaming down her face.

The lads stood by the door, genuinely concerned, but knowing that they should stay where they were. I sat down next to her and put my arm around her waist, I pulled her in tight. “what’s wrong?” She pointed to the screen. She was on tumblr, scrolling through her dashboard. The picture she pointed at was of us, earlier that day, in San Francisco.

I knew right away why she was upset. She was just a normal person. She wasn’t used to being exploited like that. I hugged her in tighter and whispered in her ears that everything would be ok. I put my own finger on her mouse pad and moved to her facebook page, to see what might have caused her even more tears. The amount of hate she was getting from girls at her school was unbelievable. “Elysa…” I whispered, but honestly, I had no idea what to say, so I just pulled her in tighter and kissed her forehead.

I looked over at the lads by the door, signaling them to close it and leave us for a moment, and they obliged.

“Look, Elysa. This sucks, and those girls, those girls are just jealous. I know this is difficult for you, but it’s part of what comes with being associated with us. I’m sorry this has to happen, I truly am. It’s not easy, and it’s not going away, but it WILL get easier, I can promise you that. You are my friend, I care about you.”

She sniffled a bit and looked up at me. “Friends, just…friends?”

I took a huge deep breath, I was afraid this was going to come up. “I don’t know. I don’t know what we are, Elysa. But I know I care about you, I know I want you in my life, and I have a pretty good feeling you want me in your life too.”

“I just don’t know if I can deal with all of this from random girls.”

This was so difficult for me to hear. It broke my heart to see her in this much pain. “Elysa, I love you.”

She looked up into my eyes, unable to say anything. She gave me a giant hug, filled with as much love as she possibly could. She pulled out and kept looking at me. I looked to her lips, and she leaned in a bit, still unsure of exactly what to do. I went in for the kiss, but had to back out chuckling a bit. “It’s ok, we can practice that a bit more” That’s all it took to get a smile back on her face.


	14. The Skype Call

Elysa’s POV

It had been two months since the surprise show and spending the day with Liam and the boys. Two months since we kissed, two months since I saw him in person, two months since I hugged him tight. The next day they were flown out to somewhere in Wisconsin. I still talked to all the boys all the time. I texted Liam every day, about everything, just like before. Liam tried to skype me once a week. We both knew a long distance relationship would be stupid, so we were kind of putting it off. But in my mind, he was mine, and I knew he considered me his.

At least it was almost summer. Regular classes had finished and I just had finals week before freedom. I wasn’t sure what I would use the freedom for though, Liam was spending most of the summer in London.

It was the night before my History final, the most important final I had for the semester. I sat with my computer playing relaxing music while I made endless note cards for extra credit. Suddenly, the sound changed as Liam called me on skype. I answered the call.

“Liam, I’m studdying!”

“I know, I know, but look, I have something to tell you.”   
The last time Liam had big news for me was the extra show. My heart suddenly dropped from my chest into my stomach. I had no idea what he could be telling me, but hopefully it would be just as good.

“Well hurry and tell me” I tried for it to appear that I wasn’t giving him my full attention so that he would know how much I needed to study.

“Elysa, look at me for a minute.” I rolled my eyes and gave him a skeptical look even though I was beyond excited to find out what he had to say. “On Friday, after your last exam, you’re coming to London.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Liam, I don’t have that kind of money to just get up one day and decide to fly halfway across the country.”

“I know you don’t, but I do.”

I froze, a smile slowly forming on my face. I couldn’t believe it. Was he really doing this for me? Flying me all the way out to London just to spend the summer with him?

“I know you said you didn’t have any summer plans, and your brother said it was ok. Elysa, we are going to spend the summer together!”

He was just as excited as I was. We were like two giddy little girls. I wanted nothing more than to jump up and give him the biggest hug of his life just then, but that’s just not something you can do through a computer screen. But it was something I would be able to do very soon…

***

I woke up that morning and went to school for the last time that year. I took my last final, and as the bell rang, I was elated. Not only was it summer, but only a plane flight away was Liam, waiting for me. The boy I cared about more than anyone else in this world had paid for me to fly half way across the world to be with him.

I was so happy that the parking lot traffic didn’t even bother me. I was in my comfiest clothes and drove right to the airport. The smile never left my face, even when I walking through the giant terminals with my three large bags, nothing could bring me down this time.

I made it into my seat on the airplane, Liam had bought me a first class ticket. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to do in first class, I had never flown in it before. I was sort of in shock. The food tasted great, and I didn’t even have to pay for it. The seats were big, and it was actually quiet enough to sleep.


	15. The Flight Lands

Elysa’s POV

The captain’s voice came over the speakers in the plane letting us know that we would be landing in about five minutes. The butterflies in my stomach quickened as I realized how soon I would be with Liam. I shuffled the magazines off of my lap and into the pocket in the seat in front of me before pulling my headphones out of my ears and turning off my ipod. I carefully wrapped the cord around small device as I sat back, still in wonder of my first class surroundings.

Before I knew it, the plane had landed. A huge smile appeared across my face as the seat belt sign went off. I stood up to get my carry-on bag out from the overhead storage. The bag fell down and almost smooshed me, but I gathered myself back together and started to walk off the plane and down the terminal.

I had never been in this airport before, so I was a little lost. I had to stop and look at maps and signs every few feet, or at least that’s what it felt like. Somehow, I finally made it to the end of the terminal and followed exit signs, and that’s when I saw him.

Liam’s POV

I stood just past where I knew she would walking out from. I had checked the boards and knew that Elysa’s flight had not been delayed, yet it seemed to take her ages to get down the terminal. It was tough being around all those fans without talking about Elysa. I knew she wanted to keep things quiet for as long as possible.

Paul leaned down and whispered in my ear, turning my attention down the terminal to see Elysa. She didn’t even notice me yet. Paul attempted to get fans away from me by signalling for the other boys to come into the small lobby we were standing in, and it worked.

Before she even looked up I was mesmerized by her beauty. She wasn’t wearing anything special, just some comfy clothes, a smart move for such a long flight. She stopped and looked at just about every sign, which made me giggle to myself a bit. She didn’t realize that she was right there, right here.

Finally, she looked up and saw me. The smile that appeared on her face must have been mirrored only by my own. I wanted nothing more than to run up and hug her, kiss her, feel her warm body next to mine for the first time in so long. But I knew I couldn’t. I knew she could see the trouble in my eyes, and after seeing the fans, she immediately understood. Paul shuffled me away through the crowd of people, I just had to wait in the car.

Elysa’s POV

It killed me so much to not be able to run up to Liam at that first moment our eyes connected, but I didn’t want all of those fans to see it. As Paul dragged him away, I stood frozen, this was harder than I ever thought possible. I was so close to him, yet so far away.

I walked through the exit and picked up my phone to text Liam, but he had already done so first. Security picked up your bags, one of them should bring you to the car after some of the fans leave. See you soon :) x

I sighed. I guess this was the new life I was getting into. I had security managing when and how I could see the boy I cared about the most, and when he could see me. But I took a deep breath. I knew this is what I had to do, at least for now.

I looked up from my phone as I noticed the screaming fans dying down. A nice, relaxed looking face came up to me and introduced herself.Her name was Kelly as she added “I work for One Direction, you must be Elysa, follow me.” She could hardly be that much older than me, which made me wonder how she had gotten such an amazing job. She wasn’t intimidating either, so why she was security baffled me.

Despite the confusion in my mind, I smiled and followed Kelly outside. We passed by the car the boys were in, which was surrounded by screaming fans. She led me around to a small alley. This definitely was not glamorous in any sense of the word, but I didn’t mind. If this is what I had to do to see Liam, this is what I would do.

She sat down on a small bench in that alley, and motioned for me to sit next to her. The smile on her face was warm and inviting. Her blue eyes were stunning, I wished mine were that crisp and clear.

“so, how did you get a job as security for the boys?” I asked her. She chuckled a bit and just as she opened her mouth, we got interrupted by Paul waving from the front seat of the black car.

“We can talk later, let’s go get in the car.” She signaled for me to get up and she opened the door for me.

Inside were all five boys, buy my eyes went strait to Liam’s. I was intending to get inside, but instead, he came rushing out. He gave me the biggest hug I have ever experienced. I closed my eyes as I buried my face into his warm chest and arms. I felt so safe, so happy, so…perfect. Everything about that moment was just perfect.

As he slowly released me, I kept my arms limply around his waist. I looked up into his eyes. I loved this boy with all my heart, but as always, all I could express was my awkward dorkiness. The only word I managed to scrum together was “Hi.” But somehow, that managed to be enough. Liam gave me a small peck on the cheek and led me inside the car with the rest of the boys.


	16. The UK Restaurant

Elysa’s POV

 

I hopped in the car behind Liam and took my seat next to him. The other boys all greeted me with smiles. It was nice to see all of them again. After the great bonding moment Niall and I had had on the couch back at the concert I felt so close to him. He was such a great friend and I wanted nothing more than to have that with all of the boys. 

Harry started telling us a story about one of the mothers of a fan hitting on him at a signing the other day. He was really proud, and I couldn’t help but giggle at the story. I rested my head on Liam’s shoulder as I listened to the excited boy sitting across from me. He was only about a year older than me, and I admired his ability to be so confident at such a young age. I wished I could be like that. But I was still too scared to even tell people about the boy I had fallen for, I was too scared to ask him if he had truly fallen for me yet.

“So how’d she compare to Caroline?” I smirked as I teased Harry a bit. Niall erupted with laughter and Harry gave me a bit of a death stare. “Gotta ask…” I shyly brushed off.

I looked up at Liam, his face told me it was ok and not to worry about Harry’s reaction. I turned to look at Niall instead, and still with a smile on my face, I asked him a burning question. “What kind of food does Nando’s have anyway?”

His face lit up at the words of my question. “You’ve never been there? Paul, to Nando’s!” He commanded to the front seat. I couldn’t help but laugh at his excitement. Of course I hadn’t been there, it didn’t exist in California.

Then, out of nowhere, Liam suddenly turned and kissed me softly on the cheek. It was all I could do to keep from covering my face in embarrassment, so I blushed instead. I could see the look in Liam’s eyes that he didn’t mean to embarrass me, but he gave me a small bit of confidence that I needed to be able to look up at the rest of the boys again.

Zayn laughed at my expense. “We don’t all have our first kiss at 9, Malik” I tried to poke fun at his young age of his first kiss but he seemed proud instead.

“Means I got more practice is all” He winked at Liam, who rolled his eyes. The boys all obviously knew how inexperienced I was. It wasn’t my fault that previous to Liam no boy had ever shown interest in me.

I managed to shake it off just as Niall bounced off the edge of his seat. “Right there, it’s on that corner Elysa!” His arm was fully extended out of the window pointed at the Nando’s on the corner. I chuckled a bit as the car pulled up and stopped in front of the small restaurant.

Niall rushed out of the car, ushering the rest of us to follow suit, so we did. Zayn, Harry and Louis walked just behind him as Liam and I took our time. I wasn’t worried about people getting pictures, seeing as the boys were currently on a day off and not expected to be anywhere, so I didn’t hide from holding Liam’s hand on our way in the building.

If I had been in less of a daze at that moment I might have noticed a few flashes out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t. I was so into the moment with Liam, in such bliss to finally be with him again.

He led me into Nando’s and explained the menu to me, which ultimately was pointless as I just had Niall order for me some of his favorites. He was so excited to be sharing this place with me after I had told him about In-N-Out.

It made me smile, but also miss California a bit. In all honesty, I had never really felt home sick before. But this was a little different. I actually missed the streets I grew up on, the school names I constantly heard, the freeway numbers, just the little things. I thought about telling Liam of the small bit of sadness that was slowly building inside of me, but I pushed it away instead and enjoyed the food Niall was almost shoving into my face.


	17. The Story

Elysa’s POV

We had finished eating our food at Nando’s pretty quickly, but the six of us just sort of sat at the table, telling stories, laughing, bonding. Everyone once in a while they would bring up something I told them back in my letter that had started this whole adventure, so I would reciprocate by bringing up odd facts about them that I had seen on tumblr.

Louis was actually the best story teller, or I thought so anyway. He was telling me about the first time a fan tried to sneak back stage. I could tell the other boys were bored with the story, as they not only experienced it, but had probably heard it millions of times over again.

As I sat and listened intently to Louis, the other boys gradually got up and went outside. By this time it was at least 10pm, so they weren’t getting mobbed my fans. Instead they played soccer in a nearby field while I finished hearing the story.

“Then Paul said the most hilarious thing” Louis went on, making me laugh every few seconds. He was such a great guy, I think he could secretly tell that there was small bit of homesick sadness building up inside of me. That must have been why he was cheering me up.

He finished his story with a great punch line and I laughed so hard water nearly squirted out of my nose.

“Glad to see SOMEONE doesn’t think my stories are boring”

I shrugged and answered him back, “Of course not, you’re hilarious.”

We smiled at each other as I took another sip of the water sitting in front of me. “So, tell me about you and Liam.” I froze, and looked up at him, slightly questioning his intent/ He quickly felt guilt flow through him, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want.”

“No, it’s ok,” I assured him. “It’s just that, I don’t know exactly.” I could tell by the look on his face that he immediately understood. He got up and sat down next to me, putting his arm around my neck for support. He listened so well as I explained everything to him. I was sure he had heard it all from Liam already, but that didn’t seem to fade his attention.

I finished telling my long story, leaving out only the bits about the dream I had so long ago that still left me confused. Louis looked at me with all his attention as he told me how much Liam cared about me, how there was nothing to worry about, and how he was just trying to protect me. He assured me that what Liam felt was real, but I just couldn’t believe it until I heard it come out of his own mouth.

Just then, the other four boys came back into the room laughing, having a brotherly squabble about the outcome of the game. “Hey, get your hands off of her, Lou!” Liam joked as he walked up to us. Louis took his hands off me smirking and chuckling.

I looked around at my smiling friends, then down at my watch. The time difference here was really strange, but I wasn’t one to lose sleep over silly things, so suggested we go back to the apartments. The boys agreed and we made our way out of Nando’s, the place closing as we left.

I held on tightly to Liam’s hand, remembering what Louis had told me. I looked behind me and smiled to him as we walked, thanking him for listening to me for so long.

We stepped back into the black car that the boys always traveled in. I would never quite come accustomed to being chauffeured around. All my life I had been so independent, and I missed my baby that was my car. But when I looked up at Liam and saw his smile, it was all worth it.

I buried my head into his chest as I felt his warmth surround me. I loved the feeling of his arms around me, keeping me safe. Harry and Louis tried making some jokes, but I just stuck my tongue at them and closed my eyes, letting their gentle lull of conversation talk me to sleep.


	18. The Phone

Liam’s POV

After a few minutes in the car, I noticed Elysa’s breathing on my chest getting deeper and slower. I looked down to notice her peacefully sleeping beside me. She looked so beautiful there, her hair casually falling over her face, her pink lips relaxed against each other. I wished I could feel those lips against mine all the time.

I was completely distracted by admiring Elysa, too distracted to notice my surroundings. Louis and Niall, who had been telling jokes and stories suddenly stopped as they and Zayn leaned over to look at Harry’s phone. It was dead silent by the time I noticed this change in atmosphere. I could tell by the look on their faces that something was wrong, and my heart dropped into my stomach.

I looked at Harry questioningly, waiting for an answer, but he couldn’t come up with the words. I looked to Zayn, nothing, Niall, nothing. They couldn’t find the words to tell me what was wrong, and I started getting restless. I finally looked at Louis, who usually had the guts to tell me something none of the other boys could. He looked into my eyes in a caring way.

“Sugarscape…they…have some pictures of you and…Elysa.”

I froze. I knew how tough this would be for Elysa to hear. She wasn’t very good with large groups of people in public, so there was no way she would be able to handle this very well. After that tumblr post, I had denied things enough to get the buzz to go away, but I didn’t think there was anything I would be able to do about this. There were pictures of her and I holding hands, just a few hours ago outside of Nando’s.

I looked back down to my sleeping beauty, so peaceful. Should I wake her up, break her bliss to share this bad news with her? Or let her sleep until she decided it was time to wake up? The thought of telling her this news and how she might react to it broke my heart.

I didn’t even notice it, but tears were beginning to stream down my face. I sniffled a bit and looked over to Niall. He looked at me with sincere concern. I wanted to get up and get a great big Horan hug, but if I moved, Elysa would wake up. Instead, it was just silent for a few minutes, before Louis turned to Paul.

“Let’s stop and take some pictures with fans.” he said. I knew what he was trying to do, get the four of them and Paul out of the car so that I could have a moment with Elysa alone. It was late at night, and there wouldn’t be many fans out, but Paul must have caught on.

The car pulled up to a park where a few girls were hanging out. I watched as the boys got out of the car one by one, giving me a smile of encouragement as they went. Niall took a football with him so they could kick it around after the fans left if I still needed more time.

Paul got out of the front seat and I heard the doors click, locked. I took one last look at Elysa, so peacefully sleeping, before I did what I had to do. I took a deep breath and rubbed her arm softly, feeling her smooth skin as I ushered her awake.

She looked at me with groggy, questioning eyes. She must have forgotten where she was, so I did my best to remind her. “The boys went outside to see some fans.” I paused awkwardly for a moment, not sure how to break the news to her. Eventually, I managed to. “I have something to tell you Elysa.” The way she looked at me made it even more difficult for me to tell you.

“What is it Liam?” She asked. She was genuinely curious, and I could see that in her face. Soon, her face changed a bit as she realized the nature of the news I was about to break. “Liam?” She begged for my attention again.

“Harry was searching himself on Sugarscape, and he…found some things.” She still looked a bit confused. With a deep breath, I continued “About me and you. Holding hands outside of Nando’s…” I trailed off a bit by the end, taking my eye contact off of her. I’m not sure who it was more difficult for.

She lifted her hand up to my face and turned it back to face her, it was probably the most confidence she had had while touching me ever up to this point. Her hand stayed on my cheek as she looked into my tearful eyes. Elysa’s eyes began to water as well. It looked as if she was about to say something, but couldn’t muster the words together.

Instead, she leaned in and hugged me, burying her head in my arms. Both of our tears sped up, our breathing became shallow and quick. We weren’t even officially together and we had to go through so much. I was hoping that she would stick through it, but I honestly wasn’t sure. I had to keep reminding myself that Elysa was a normal 16 year old girl. I couldn’t put someone I cared about so much into such a difficult position…

We sat there together, holding each other through both of our pain. It was such a horrible feeling. I just wanted to close my eyes and have all of it go away. To be Elysa without any of this pain, but I knew that it just couldn’t work that way.

Finally, I backed up and looked her in the eyes. As if they somehow knew, the boys opened the car door at that moment. “Ready to go home, mate?” Louis asked me, but he was looking at Elysa the whole time. It was really up to how she was doing.

“Please” She managed to whimper out. The boys all watched Elysa and I with concern in their eyes. I brought my hand up and wiped away the tears from her face, and she did the same from mine. She felt awkward and started to giggle, which in turn made me giggle. I held her tightly as Niall told a joke on our way home.


	19. The Tears Dry

Elysa’s POV

Niall tried really hard to lighten the mood in that car ride. It was sweet, he was so sweet. His jokes weren’t even that good, but they did lift me up a bit, just the thought that he cared enough to make me feel better really did help, and I think he knew that.

Every so often I would look up to Liam, whose tears were slowly drying like mine, and whose face was slowly brightening up from Niall and the boys. I sat and just sort of thought for a while. It was such a great place to be in. I had always wanted to go to London, and now I was here with five boys who cared so much about me, one of them being Liam. It was a wonderful feeling that made the pain of the pictures slowly melt away.

I had been holding Harry’s phone in my hand, still from looking at the pictures online. It vibrated in my hand because he had a text from some girl, I was about to poke fun when I noticed it was Kelly, the security woman who had picked me up from the airport. She was texting to ask if I was ok, she had seen the pictures too.

He handed the phone back to me after taking a quick look. I couldn’t help it but to look through other One Direction related articles on the website. They were actually really funny. I turned and looked up at him and handed the phone back. I couldn’t but ask him how he dealt with it when there were articles about him and Caroline Flack.

“You don’t exactly get used to it, but you get past it. Like, uhm, if you care enough a girl, other people don’t matter.”

A smile emerged on my face and I looked up at Liam, into his eyes. He smiled back at me. Maybe, just maybe, I could manage to do this with him.

The car pulled up to the boys’ apartment complex and Paul carried each of our bags towards the building. It was weird seeing someone else doing that for me when I was fully capable, but I didn’t complain.

Zayn was already very groggy as he pulled himself by his bootstraps to get up the stairs. I couldn’t help but think of all the funny pictures I’d seen of him on tumblr a while back.

Harry just rushed off to his apartment, he was tired and probably had some…”business” to do.

Niall was absolutely adorable though. He came up to Liam and gave him a GIANT Horan hug goodnight, telling him how much he loves him. He even gave me a big hug too, he must have known how much I needed it still.

Louis came up to the two of us and hugged us each goodnight as well, but not before winking and telling Liam to “be careful”. I rolled my eyes. Of course I knew what he meant, but I knew there was no way that would be happening tonight. I wasn’t ready, and I knew Liam respected that.

I took a look at the apartment I was about to enter. It was simple looking, but nice and modern as well. I saw the lights on in the other units, seeing Harry and Louis’ silhouettes appear in their kitchen and open the fridge. I looked over and saw Niall dancing in his room, and the lights completely off in Zayn’s. Then I looked in front of me again. 

We hadn’t talked about where I would sleep. Did he have an extra bed? Would I sleep on the couch? I started to get a bit concerned as I didn’t think he had put much thought into it either.

I swallowed my breath and looked at Liam, who led the way inside.


	20. The Apartment

Liam’s POV

I picked up both of our bags and led her into my flat, trying to show off a calm and clear surface, even though I was far from it. I hadn’t mentioned to her that we would be sharing the bed like we did at the hotel. I totally respected her, and didn’t want to cross any boundaries, so I just figured that if she wasn’t ok with it, she would tell me and I would sleep on the couch for the night and buy another bed some time soon. 

The calm thing must have worked, because Elysa didn’t seem to suspect a thing. There wasn’t really much for her to look at, but she still stood there for a moment longer than usual.

“This is it” I told her and shrugged a bit. I led her around and showed her the kitchen, the bathroom, the TV in the living room, then led her to my bedroom. “And this is the bedroom…I thought we could share.” I saw a look on her face. “If that’s ok with you.” I quickly added. I made sure to add in that I would sleep on the couch if that’s what she wanted.

Despite not seeming completely comfortable with the idea of sharing the bed, she insisted that I not sleep on the couch.

She headed over to her bag, pulled out some clothes and went into the bathroom to change. I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom as I started to do the same. I pulled off my shirt and looked at my body in the mirror. It was nothing that special, I mean, it was better than most boys’, but nothing too special. I changed into comfy sleeping pants and a white T-shirt and sat down by computer next to the bed.

A moment later, Elysa came in the room. She was wearing a pair of Soffee shorts, an old T-shirt that used to be her brothers, and a sports bra. I couldn’t help but smile. Even in her most comfortable clothing, ready to fall asleep, she looked absolutely beautiful to me.

Elysa’s POV

When I walked into Liam’s room I was scared. I had shared a bed with him before, at the hotel, and that was fine. But for some reason this seemed different. This wasn’t just a bed, this was HIS bed. I suddenly became aware of what I was wearing and how horrible I must have looked in my favorite shorts and my brother’s old T-shirt.

There was no way I was taking that shirt off though. I missed my brother so much already. We had a really strange relationship, sometimes he was like my parent, and sometimes I was like his. But he was all I really had, even when I didn’t exactly have him. At least for that night, I needed to wear that shirt.

I realized how I had been thinking of my brother in ways that most girls would think about their boyfriends and I smiled to myself. I was so weird, he was so weird, Liam was so weird. I could never picture a normal human being in my life for long term.

I rubbed my eyes, which were quite groggy after only sleeping for such a short amount of time in the car. I sat down on Liam’s bed, the sheets feeling like they had been used for a while. He sat down next to me and grabbed his phone. I pretended not to look, but I couldn’t help myself. He was texting Niall “goodnight” and letting him know that I was ok. It was so sweet of Niall to worry about me. He was such a sweet guy.

I shimmied under the blankets, which were warm and cozy like mine at home. But unlike mine at home, they smelled like Liam. They had a mix of his natural sent and his British brand detergent that made me smile. I looked over at Liam laying next to me and smile.

“Liam…” I took his attention off of his phone, which he put down to charge for the night. He looked into my eyes with such compassion it made me blush, which in turn made him chuckle. I loved that little laugh of him.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course Elysa” He looked at me a bit surprised, probably wondering what I had to tell him that I hadn’t told him before in one way or another. His eyes were so caring and sincere. He truly cared what I had to say.

So, with a deep breath, I looked into his puppy dog face and let it all out. He held me in his arms for hours that night as I told him everything that was on my mind. How I missed my brother, how I missed my home, how I was scared of what the media would say about me. We sat there together for hours on end, just talking, listening. It was amazing. I felt closer to Liam than I ever had before.

I fell asleep in his arms that night, feeling so warm, so safe. It was even more amazing than the night at the hotel.


	21. The Third Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mature chapter

Elysa’s POV

I rolled over on top of him with a sudden burst of confidence, more confidence than I had ever had with a boy before in my life. This was different, this wasn’t just a boy, this was Liam.

I leaned down and crashed my lips onto his, allowing his tongue access to my mine immediately. I didn’t exactly know what I was doing, so I let him take control. It was an amazing feeling. The kiss deepened with every moment as the passion we both had for each other took control.

I pulled my lips off of his and looked into his eyes, filled with lust and passion. I smirked because I thought I was being clever in teasing him, but I was wrong. He suddenly flipped me over so that he was on top of me and took even more control than before.

Our lips met again, but it wasn’t long before they had to split to allow for his shirt to come off. I couldn’t help but me mesmerized by his toned body. I let my hands trace up and down his chest, feeling all of his muscles that I loved so much.

He ended that moment quickly though, as he crashed our lips back together. The way he made me feel when we kissed was amazing. It was nothing I had ever felt before. I wanted more of him, and he knew that.

Our lips separated one more time to allow for him to pull my shirt over my head. I felt exposed in front of him, embarrassed even. I blushed, but he shushed me and kissed my lips softly once more before moving down to my neck, my collar bone, and soon, my breasts.

His mouth worked wonders. I had never experienced this sensation before. The embarrassment melted away just as quickly as it had appeared. I tilted my head back in pleasure of the work he was doing.

I began to let out a moan…


	22. The Morning

Elysa’s POV

The moan in my dream somehow shook me awake. I became suddenly aware of how sweaty and clammy I was. I took a deep breath as I became aware of my surroundings first thing in the morning.

The sun was shining through the shutters covering the window, the walls were beige, and the sheets still smelled like Liam. I stretched my face a bit as I became aware that I was spooning with him, and I smiled. I hadn’t remembered being in that position when I fell asleep, but it always felt so good to have someone’s arms around me, protecting me. 

I really wanted to get up and splash some water on my face, but I didn’t want to leave the confines of Liam’s arms and warm body. I was nearly torturing myself, but had to remember that at that moment, we were nothing official.

With an internal groan, I carefully slid out of the bed, careful not to wake up Liam beside me. I walked over into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. I borrowed his hair brush and collected my hair into a pony tail at the top of my head. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to imagine what Liam might possible see in me, but I couldn’t find anything. I was nothing special, and he was.

I sighed and looked down, seeing that I had accidentally left my clothes on the floor when I changed the night before. I was slightly embarrassed as I imagined he must have gotten up at some point in the night. I knew I was right when I noticed the toilet seat had been left up, and I giggled to myself.

That was when I noticed Liam in the doorway, he was just sort of looking at me. It was a mix of sweet and creepy, but either way it made me feel very self aware.

“Good morning love, how’d you sleep?” He asked me very sweetly. I smiled shyly as I told him I slept with my eyes closed, one of my classic jokes that almost no one actually found funny anymore, but he still laughed. He came towards me for a hug and pecked my forehead, which in turn made me blush.

Liam’s POV

Even when she blushed, she looked amazing. Elysa was so beautiful and she truly had no idea. She wasn’t one of those girls who said she was ugly just for compliments, she didn’t even say she was ugly. She just didn’t see anything special in herself like what I saw.

I kissed her on her forehead and noticed her blush. She was so cute when she blushed, it reminded me she was younger, and that I could show her the ropes of life in some ways.

I looked down at my watch and decided it was time for breakfast, so I led her into the kitchen with me. We searched the cabinets and found just enough pancake mix for the two of us, so I got to work.

She sat down at the table about ten feet away and played with her hair. Her hair was so beautiful. Its dirty blonde color, its softness, it was so long too. I loved it. I wanted to get my hands lost in it while my lips got lost in her’s. I couldn’t help but admire the way it framed her face in the morning, it was perfect.

She moved suddenly as she got up and went back to the bedroom. She returned a moment later with her phone out, texting someone intently and laughing. It felt good to know she had friends that she could talk to while she was here. I figured it was one of the boys, which I later found out it was. I kept a smile plastered on my face as I finished up cooking the pancakes.

Just as I was putting our breakfast on the table, Harry barged through the doors with Gemma. It was a normal occurrence to see him early in the morning like this, especially since he had no idea how to cook. But I was a bit puzzled as why he was here this morning, seeing as Gemma was with him and she cooks very well.

I got up and gave Haz a hug anyway, telling him good morning, and did the same for Gemma. She smiled at me and made her way to sit down next to Elysa. It made sense now, Harry was still worried about how she was reacting to the story online last night. He also went and sat next to Elysa.

“Are you doing better?” I had never heard Harry put words together so quickly in my life.

“I think I’ll be fine.” She assured him. I saw Haz get up and take a deep breath before picking up a pancake with his hands and walking over to me. He tried to engage me in conversation, as how I was doing, ask what Elysa and I truly were, but not only did I not know the answer to those questions, I didn’t want to at that moment.

All my attention was still focused on Elysa and Gemma at the table, talking to each other calming and softly. Although Gemma was about 4 years older than Elysa, I could tell they were going to have a really close bond. It made me feel better knowing that she had someone besides myself to help her through this, especially since I knew it wouldn’t be the last time.

Harry and I sat down at the table again after a moment and the four of us all helped ourselves to breakfast. I was an excellent cook that morning. We sat there together, laughing and telling stories to get our mind off of the issue at hand. But there was no way to completely avoid it.

Kelly walked in a few minutes later and greeted the four of us. “Paul sent me this morning,” she said looking at her clipboard. I could tell she wasn’t actually reading anything, just trying to look more official than she was, being that she was only two years older than Gemma. “He wants to know what management should say when asked about Liam and Elysa.”

The room went dead silent. None of the four of us truly knew what to answer. But after a moment, I took a deep breath and stood up. I walked over to Elysa and put my hands on her shoulders, and turned my attention to Kelly. “Well,” I started, “I would like them to say that I’m taken, but it’s really up to Elysa…” I got really nervous as every possibility of her next words ran through my mind. Harry and Gemma were frozen in their seats, not expecting those words to have come out of my mouth.

I looked down at Elysa after what seemed like hours of waiting for a response, and she said, “You can tell them that.” She blushed again, as always.

I was so elated. She jumped up and hugged me so tightly as I noticed Harry and Gemma’s faces slowly turning into smiles. I could not have asked for a better morning.


	23. The Announcement

Elysa’s POV

We were sitting back in that big black car again. But this was different than last time. Last time I was crying, and this time I couldn’t be happier. Liam’s and my hands never lost contact with each other that entire time, and the other boys didn’t dare poke fun this time. It felt so amazing to know that he felt the same way about me that I felt about him.

Gemma was in the car with us today, but Kelly had left to do some other work. I sat between her and Liam with Louis and Harry across from us joking into their phones, Zayn half asleep on the window, and Niall taking up almost all of the front seat, leaving barely any room for Paul to drive.

It was weird to think that after only a day I had somewhat gotten used to being in this car like this. To being driven around everywhere I wanted to go. Somehow it started to feel normal, even with all this weirdness.

Liam kissed my forehead as the car slowed to a stop in front of a building. There were screaming fans everywhere. It was strange. I had never been to something like that, even as a normal fan I never went to scream in the boys’ faces. And now I was there as Liam’s girlfriend, except none of them really knew yet.

The doors of the car opened and Harry and Louis jumped out. Zayn lifted himself and rubbed his eyes as he yanked out Niall and tried to protect him from all the girls. Liam took a deep breath and squeezed my hand tight. I was scared, and grabbed onto Gemma as well as we shuffled out of the small car. The noise was insane. I was not prepared for something like this. Liam led me through the crowd, not stopping to sign anything for fans, which was out of character for him. Gemma saw my fears and grabbed tightly as well. The two of them protected me in the insanity that was fans waiting outside a building.

We finally made it inside and I took in a huge breath of air. It felt nice to breathe in without the fear of taking people in with the air. I realized the look on my face would have been hilarious to anyone else when I passed by a reflective surface. I turned around and saw that Harry and Louis WERE indeed laughing at me, I gave them an icky face and stuck out my tongue.

“You ok, love?” Liam asked me as we walked down the hall. The craziness was far from over as countless interviewers were still taking our pictures, not to mention asking who I was. I shook my head in response, assuring him everything was ok despite how terrified I was on the inside (and outside probably).

“You’ll get used to it Ely” No one had ever called me Ely before, but I kind of liked it, so I didn’t say anything.

Paul led our group to a small green room. Liam and I sat down on a couch together while the rest of the boys sprawled out on some chairs in the room. He kissed my forehead again, and I blushed. Although there was no media in the room at the time, there was a whole crew of people, and I wasn’t used to this type of affection from anyone, let alone a boyfriend.

“I really liked when you called me ‘Ely’”

Liam smiled at me, “Good, me too.” I couldn’t help but giggle at his response.

I looked around the room and saw all the boys on their phones, they really were normal teenagers like me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my own, surprised to see a new message from my brother.

Did you get to London? You never called.

I had totally forgotten to call him when my plane landed. It must have completely slipped my mind while I was concerned with Liam. I smiled as I tapped out my message.

yes, sorry, must have forgotten to call. With Liam at an interview. I held my breath, making sure Liam wasn’t looking over my shoulder as I added in the last part. I think he’s about to make it official.

I smiled and looked at my message as I pressed send. Liam looked over at me, noticing my smirk, and kissed me quickly on the lips.

“Who was that?”

“My brother” I told him.

“Good, no one trying to steal you from me” I giggled and let my head rest on his shoulder. I would have loved to kiss him right then, but I was still insecure about kissing and I didn’t want Liam to have to say anything in front of the other boys.

Paul walked in with a clipboard, never looking completely up from it. “Alright boys, magazine interview with all of you, then Liam, Louis, and Zayn to a radio interview and Harry and Niall to a web show. Should last about an hour.” He walked out of the room just as abruptly as he walked in.

I looked over at Liam questioningly, not exactly sure what this meant. He kissed me on the forehead again, assuring me that he was only a text message away, and walked out of the room. I knew it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I really did want to hear exactly what he was going to say when they asked if he was single or not.

Gemma must have seen the look on my face, or been feeling a bit lonely as well, because she moved from her chair over to the couch with me. Her smile was so sweet and kind.

“You doing ok Elysa?” She asked me. I shook my head to signal yes, but my eyes told her clearly no. “Listen darling, this life is nothing easy. But Liam really cares about you, the other boys too. And Harry asked me to stick around for a few weeks to look after you. You’re going to be ok, I know it, trust me.”

I swallowed back tears and buried myself in her arms. I had never had a sister before, and if this is what it felt like to have one, I wished I did.

We sat together talking for bit, she assuring me that everything would be ok, me coming up with pointless reasons why it wouldn’t be. It was a dumb exercise, but sometimes you have to do dumb things to get to a good place, and that’s exactly what happened. 

I looked around the room after a bit and noticed that all the security had left to be with the boys and it was truly just the two of us in the room. Having never had a sister, and my parents never being around, I had a million questions to ask Gemma. I decided that this would be as good a time as ever to start, so I did.

“Gemma?”

“mhmm?”

“How do I know if I’m a good kisser?” I asked her very timidly, but her kind smile wiped way my small fears just a bit.

“Honey, you ARE a good kisser. Do you realize how close these boys are? I overhear a lot of things. You’re doing absolutely fine, darling.”

I was a little bit shocked. I always over heard people at school talking about their relationships, but I didn’t have many friends so I wasn’t exactly a part of that. I guess I never really realized how much people talk. And with Liam being so close with the other boys, I guess they really did talk all the time. It made me wonder.

“What else do they say about me?”

Gemma let out a little chuckle and put her arm around me for support. “You’re sixteen, right?”

“Almost seventeen!”

She laughed at my remark. I had forgotten about our age difference until that moment. My age different with Liam didn’t seem that big of a deal though. I cared about him so much it just didn’t seem to matter.

“Well,” she started, “They talk about how sweet you are, and how down to earth you are, and how beautiful you are..”

I cut her off with a snort. There was no possible way that they talked about how beautiful I was. There was absolutely nothing special about me in any conceivable way.

Gemma then spent the next fifteen minutes trying to prove me wrong. It was all I could do to blush that entire time until I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and it was my brother.

I just heard him on the radio. Congrats kid. Don’t go too crazy.

I had such a mix of emotions at that moment. I was happy, excited, scared, nervous, embarrassed. Liam had officially announced that we were together. This was it, there was no going back now.

I looked up at Gemma and showed her the message. She smiled and gave me a giant hug. “I told you, everything is gonna be great.”

Just then, the boys walked together through the door. Liam’s eyes caught mine immediately. Before I had the chance to jump up and hug him, Gemma whispered one last thing to me. “We’ll talk more over lunch.” She told me.

Liam made his way painfully slowly to the couch I was sitting on. I was finally able to get up and give him the hug I wanted to. I backed up a bit and looked into his eyes. “My brother heard your interview” I told him. He looked at me and smiled.

Without any other warning, he went in for the kiss. This time, I was more confident with it. I smiled into his lips as he gently asked for access into my mouth with his tongue. I obliged. The kiss only lasted a moment though, as Paul cleared his throat and Harry laughed. I sat down back on the couch, blushing, embarrassed. But Liam’s arm was around me, so I knew everything would be ok, just like Gemma told me.


	24. The Cheese

Liam’s POV

We sat together on the couch for a moment, her cuddled up next to me. I could tell that we both had massive smiles on our faces. There was no doubt in my mind that I had done the right thing, made the right move. I looked down at Elysa and saw a girl I cared about more than I ever thought possible. She looked absolutely beautiful sitting there, and she made me so beyond happy.

My mind traveled off as Elysa laughed with Gemma and the lads engaged in their own conversations. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the smile only increasing on my face. I replayed the words in my head from just moment ago. The reporter asked if we were single, luckily the other boys had answered first. When the question came to me, Zayn, Louis, and Niall looked questioningly, while Harry’s eyes were filled with encouragement. I had to take a deep breath before I could answer the question, until finally, I did. I told the radio interviewer and audience, “I am happily taken by a beautiful girl.” After some nudges from the boys and looks from the interviewers, I continued. “Her name is Elysa.” I had to hold my breath then. I wanted to continue to talk about her for hours, but I knew that wasn’t something I could do on the radio. I just looked over to Harry, smiling, proud of me, and returned the favor. Zayn stayed silent and mysterious, and Louis cracked a joke into Niall’s ear. I didn’t even care though. She was beautiful, and I cared about her so much.

I was snapped out of my trance by Paul, barking short orders to move on to our next interviews. I sighed deeply and looked Elysa in eyes. I never wanted to be apart from her.

“Stay here with Gem. I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Walking away at that moment was so much more difficult than I thought it would be. Not only did I want to be with her for longer than a few minutes at a time, not only did I never want to leave her beautiful face, but somehow, a simple label had made us even closer, and I never wanted that closeness to go away.

Elysa’s POV

My hands slipped out from Liam’s as he walked away. I took another deep breath. Is this what it was going to be like? See him for a minute or two, then he leaves again? Would there be any consistency? I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to take away the pain of him leaving after such a wonderful moment.

Gemma walked back over to the couch with me and smiled.“He cares so much, Elysa” I looked at her and responded with a small grin to show I had understood. Just then, I felt a small grumble in the pit of my stomach. I was unsure if it was hunger or nerves, but I needed to change the subject.

“Are we getting lunch soon?”

Gemma looked down at her watch before responding,“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We can’t really leave unless you want to be mobbed by fans, but I can have Paul bring something in. What do you want?”

At that moment, all I honestly wanted was a really yummy, warm, cheesy, grilled cheese. I craved it whenever I had any extreme emotion, and there were so many of those pulsing through my body that I couldn’t think to eat anything else. Gemma giggled when I shared this with her and proceeded to find Paul.

As she left the room I took yet another deep breath. I slowly pulled my phone out of my pocket; I had been feeling its vibrations almost constantly since the text from my brother. As I slid it open, I was not surprised by my messages. Scrolling through the names and unknown numbers, I became skeptical of who was actually happy for me, and who thought they had a chance of hopping on a fame wagon.

Gemma walked back into the room and must have seen the distressed look on my face.“You are aloud to make one phone call, then put your phone away.” She explained how I should treat this like I would with any other boy, call my family or best friends first; leave the rest of the world out of it. I couldn’t help but agree, however, I had already talked to my brother, who qualified in both categories as my best friend and as my family. So, with a calm smile, I swiftly closed my phone and placed it on the small table beside me.

Gemma and I spent the next half hour sitting together, eating our grilled cheeses. We had friendly conversation for a while, until she brought up my recent bode of confidence when kissing Liam just before he left.

“I don’t know,” I started to say,“Before Liam, I had never actually kissed anyone before.” I paused to see her reaction, I was expecting judgement, but her face stayed friendly as I continued.“That’s why I asked you earlier about the kissing.”

She smiled out of understanding as we continued to eat our lunch. I felt awkward in the silence between us, until she broke it raving about the cheesiness of our meal. It was clear she had no judgement of me, which made me once again smile.

Suddenly, I heard my phone vibrate on the table beside me. I looked into Gemma’s eyes, which told me it was ok to look for now. I smiled and reached over, quickly opening my phone. It was a text from Niall, so I showed it to Gemma.

Hey Elysa. I just wanted to let you know that no matter what “fans” might say to you in the next few weeks, you are a brilliant girl. Not only are you truly special, but I have never seen Liam care about someone the way he cares about you. Don’t let anything that anyone says get to you. If you need help along the way, with anything at all, don’t forget that I’m here. I already consider you one of my best mates, and I want to make sure we can keep it that way.

I could not wipe the smile off of my face. What Gemma said before was SO right. All these boys cared about me. I just wanted to be best friends with each of them. I already felt as if Niall could become my best friend, Louis could act as a brother, Harry as a best friend I can beat up on for fun, and Zayn could fill me with wisdom and advice.

I texted Niall back swiftly.

Thank you Niall. You are so great.

I continued on with a giant smile as I let him know how much his text meant to me. When I finished, I looked up at Gemma with a smile, she reciprocated. I never knew before what it was like to have this kind of support from people around me. It was comforting to know that I was never truly alone. I always had someone to talk to.

At that moment though, I just wanted to talk to Liam.


	25. The Texts

Elysa:How’s the interview going

1 minute

Liam:It’s ok, same questions as always. I miss you babe x

1 minute

Elysa:Give them different answers and see if they notice! I miss you too.

1 minute

Liam:That would be way too mean! What have you and Gem been up to?

2 minutes

Elysa:Just had some lunch and talked.

1 minute

Liam:talk about anything special?

3 minutes

Elysa:Kind of

1 minute

Liam:Like what?

4 minutes

Elysa:girl talk

1 minute

Liam:haha. don’t tell her too much! :) x

1 minute

Elysa:Not that I have much to say :P

2 minutes

Liam:Is that my fault?

1 minute

Elysa:no

1 minute

Liam:are you sure?

1 minute

Elysa:yes. It’s just. you know I’ve never been with anyone before.

1 minute

Liam:I know

1 minute

Elysa:it doesn’t bother you though, does it?

1 minute

Liam:Not at all. Everything about you is perfect, and if no one before me could see that, then it’s their fault, not yours. I just hope I never pressure you into something further than you are willing to go.

1 minute

Elysa:You never have. Actually…well never mind

1 minute

Liam:actually what?

7 minutes

Elysa:well, I’d kind of like to know what its like to go a little bit further

3 minutes

Liam:do you think you are ready for that babes?

2 minutes

Elysa:I didn’t mean…all the way, just a little bit further.

4 minutes

Liam:only if you are sure you are ready for that step, love.

3 minutes

Elysa:I’m sure. You have some experience with this anyway, so I’m not exactly scared, haha

1 minute

Liam:You make that sound like a bad thing. And that previous experience means nothing. Anything that happens, or has happened, is totally about you and me, and no one else.

2 minutes

Elysa:no one else?

1 minute

Liam:absolutely no one else. This is about you and me, and our relationship, no one else.


	26. The Birthday Plans

Liam’s POV

 

My interview was over, but I lagged a bit in the room with the lads. Zayn and Louis walked out pretty quickly, but Niall and Harry must have noticed my intent stare on my phone. I was waiting to see if Elysa would say anything, I was trying to figure out exactly what she meant by…well everything she had just said to me. 

“Everything ok, mate?”Harry asked me. It was clear that he cared about whatever was going on. He cared not only about me, but about Elysa too. But for some reason, I didn’t want to speak up to him about this. He was so cheeky, he would probably make some remark that he would regret.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”I plastered a bit of a fake smile as he walked out of the room calling his sister’s name. When I was sure he was out of earshot, I turned to Niall who was still looking at me concerned.”It’s not…bad.”I tried to convince him, but he didn’t believe me.“She just told me, well…she told me…here, look.”I handed him my phone and watched nervously as he read the conversation. I was fairly sure he knew that Elysa had never been with anyone, I mean, it was in her letter that she sent that started this all, so it wasn’t like any huge secrets were coming out.

Niall finished reading the conversation and handed the phone back to me with a smile. No words-just a smile. He patted my back and walked out of the room in silence. I had no idea what this was supposed to mean.

I followed in the other lad’s footsteps and left the interview room. I knew Elysa felt awkward about most things, so I was just hoping she would be ok. As I walked into the room she was waiting in, I caught her smile. It was huge and contagious. I walked up and held her hand, giving her a small kiss on her forehead.

“Can we talk more later…about…ya know?”she whispered into my ears. I nodded to say “yes” as we made our way out of the building.

Elysa’s POV

I was really nervous that Liam was going to feel awkward. We really hadn’t talked much about the sexual stuff, and it made me feel a bit apprehensive. But when he walked into the room, my face just lit up. Any awkward feelings melted away as I saw him standing there. He came to me and intertwined my fingers with his before kissing my forehead gently. I blushed a bit, but he didn’t seem to notice. I built up the courage to ask if we could talk more about this later, because I realized it was something we needed to talk about, just not here, or now. He agreed.

I took a deep breath, both from feeling content with our relationship, and anxiety about what the fans would be like when we left the building. I quickly learned that anxiety had its rightful place in my mind.

The second we got to the lobby of the building my eardrums started to shatter. The screaming was even more intense than ever before. Getting into the car was a blur. A loud, insane, blur. But we finally made it.

I sat down in the center seat, between Liam and Niall, allowing myself to appreciate the smiles of the other boys. I relaxed a bit as I noticed that I had been holding onto Liam’s arm since we left the building. This realization only made me cuddle more with him and place my head on his chest to relax from the insanity that we had just escaped.

The car drove for about five minutes until we lost the sounds of screaming outside. It was honestly a bit of a relief for me. I looked across from me and saw Harry, deep in thought. Until suddenly he said “BIRTHDAY”I giggled a bit and sat up.

“Use your words, Harold.”I mocked.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow!”

Somehow, I had almost forgotten. I looked at my watch to see the date, and in fact, my 17th birthday WAS tomorrow.

“We have to throw you a HUGE party!”I laughed. I hadn’t had the time or money for a real birthday party in years, and I was to the point where I would rather spend it with my best friends talking than with random strangers dancing to rave music.“I bet Liam has a special present for you..”He winked at the two of us, what a cheeky boy.

“Or we could all get lunch together?”I suggested.

Liam’s face lit up, I could tell the gears in his mind were working.“Let’s have all the lads stay over tonight. We can stay up until it’s your actual birthday, and eat breakfast together in the morning.”It was actually a great suggestion, and we all agreed.

The car pulled in to the apartment complex that I had begun to feel at home in. I confidently walked to Liam’s door and waited for the key so he could let me in.

“See you lads around 6!”He shouted to the other boys as he joined me and opened the door.

Liam’s POV

I wanted to make sure she didn’t think I was going to try anything too far just because it was her birthday. I figured having the other lads over for most of it would help assure her. I also wanted Elysa to get closer with the boys, and really start to see them as family.

We walked inside silently, and Elysa headed strait for the bedroom. I assumed she was changing her clothes, so I hung around near the kitchen, planning out dinner and breakfast for all the lads.

“Liam!”I heard Elysa calling me into the bedroom, so I obliged.

I opened the door slowly to see her wearing comfy sweats on top of the bed. She patted the space next to her, signally for me to join, so once again, I obliged. I kissed her on the cheek as I sat down, and watched her blush, but a bit less than before.

“Liam, can we talk about…what we were talking about?”

She opened the conversation sort of awkwardly, but I knew it was a pretty big step for her. I shook my head to let her know to continue.

“So, my birthday is tomorrow, but I don’t really want everything to happen…tomorrow…”She trailed off a bit and lost eye contact with me, probably thinking she was accidentally offending me, which she was not.“But, I do want…some stuff…”

I smiled a bit, I couldn’t help it but be excited. Of course, I didn’t know exactly which “stuff” she meant.“Whatever you want babe. I just want you to be happy and comfortable, but the thought of you in pleasure drives me wild.”I had to admit that last part, because it did drive me wild. She giggled and blushed some more.

“I think I’m gonna call some friends from home since I wont get much time tomorrow.” She smiled and hopped off the bed with her phone in hand. It was so cute. I loved everything about Elysa.


	27. The I-Couldn't-Come-Up-With-A-Single-Object

Liam’s POV

 

As Elysa skipped out of the room to call her friends, I couldn’t help but smile. Then, I looked down. Maybe she had seen and decided to leave the room for that reason, or maybe it was just a good coincidence that she had left, but I had some business to be taken care of, and that needed to happen before she noticed.

“Babe, I’m taking a shower!”I called across the flat to her. I heard no response, but assumed she had heard and proceeded on my way to the bathroom.

I walked into the smallish room and closed and locked the door. I almost never used the lock, but I figured it was necessary this time. I went to the shower and turned on the water to a good heat, and stepped back to let the water warm up. Slowly, I took off my shirt, then my shorts, then my boxers, and looked in the mirror. What I saw was nothing special, not to me anyways. I knew thousands of girls out there loved my body, but I just couldn’t see it exactly the way that they could. I saw where my muscles could be bigger, where everything could be bigger, but it wasn’t worth it.

I shook these thoughts from my mind and walked back to the shower. I put my hand in and felt the perfect warmth of the water, so I stepped in. I leaned my head back, allowing for the water to flow through my hair. I turned and looked at the array of soaps and shampoos that had made their way in here, but instead I decided it was best to pass.

I looked down and saw that my length was almost at its full length, without any touch from me or Elysa. I took a deep breath, and leaning against the shower wall, I took it in my hand and began to stroke. I smiled as I thought about Elysa doing this for me one day, when she was ready of course. I got harder at the thought of me being able to pleasure her, hear her sounds, maybe even taste her one day. A giant smile appeared on my face.

I kept rubbing and stroking myself until I was almost at my peak. I could feel it coming. I had to bite my lip to keep from making noise, I didn’t want Elysa to hear me. But when I finally got there, I couldn’t help it. I let out one big moan as I released my fluids around the shower.

I panted, my hand still in place, as I came down from the high that I had given myself. I smile made its way to my face as I slowly began to catch my breath. Then, suddenly,

“Liam? Are you alright?”

It was Elysa from outside the bathroom door.Dammit I thought. She must have heard me.”Yeah, be out in a minute babe”I assured her. I quickly used the shower water to clean up my mess so she wouldn’t have a clue. I poured a bit of conditioner into my hands and quickly spread it through my hair so it would smell as if I had actually showered.

Elysa’s POV

A loud noise coming from the bathroom shook me as I was deep in thought. I had talked to my brother, and a couple friends, but I really didn’t have many people to call, not many people I usually celebrated my birthday with. The noise, however, shook me out of thought, as I began to get a bit worried about Liam.

“Liam? Are you alright?”I asked him from just outside the bathroom door. As he told me he would be right out I chuckled a bit, thinking to myself of what he might possibly be doing in there. I wiped away the thought as it made me blush, even with no words coming out of my mouth, or him even being in the room.

I walked into the bedroom and pulled out one of my favorite sundresses, this was my birthday celebration after all. I took a moment to feel the soft cotton-mix and appreciate the floral pattern. I smiled as I thought about how that one dress made me feel the most confident out of any of my clothes.

I must not have heard the shower turn off, because Liam was somehow able to make his way from the bathroom to the doorway without me noticing. He coughed and looked off to the corner of the room. I giggled as I noticed him.

He stood there, in the doorway, only a soft white towel covering his lower half from me. His body looked so amazing. His toned muscles coated with a thin layer of shimmering water droplets from the shower. His hair, thrown around still wet, and his face smiling. He was so beautiful in every way. I longed to see every inch of him, to be able to appreciate his full true beauty.

I was so mesmerized by Liam I had forgotten that I was in only a bra and underwear. He coughed again and turned around, giving me the chance to cover up. I blushed, as always, slightly embarrassed, yet a little less that I was when something similar happened back in his hotel room after that show. 

I quickly arranged the dress I had been appreciating over my head, and let it slide on to my body. I adjusted the material so it fit around my chest just right, and made sure the bottom was at its full length. I signaled to Liam that it was ok to turn around now. 

As he turned, I caught his eyes, trapped on my body as if in awe. I blushed and looked away as he walked towards me. Unexpectedly, he took my face in the palms of his hand.

Liam’s POV

Elysa’s beauty was radiating off of her. I could tell her confidence had soared to a new high. I slowly stepped forward, taking her beautiful face in my hands, turning it so I could look into her eyes. They sparkled in response to the setting sun in the window. I wanted nothing more than to take her entire body under my command, allowing her to feel more pleasure than ever before, right then and there. But I knew I couldn’t, I respected her way too much.

Instead, I leaned forward, crashing my lips down to hers. I put all of my passion into that moment, smiling as I remembered that as of today, she was all mine. She began to giggle a bit and pulled back.

“Hey, I wasn’t done yet!” I whined to Elysa. She giggled some more and gave me a quick peck on the lips before walking out of the room.


	28. The Birthday Celebration

Elysa’s POV

I skipped to the door as I heard a knock, and when I saw it was Niall and Louis, I let them in. They both gave me a giant hug and wished me an early happy birthday. I politely smiled and said thank you, although I was pretty horrible in situations like this one. I sat down with my back leaning against the wall, letting my dress flow at my legs, and invited the two to join me.

We sat and talked for a while. I loved these boys. They were really my best friends, I felt like I could tell them anything. Well, almost anything. There was no way I would talk to them about my plans to go a little further with Liam soon, but I told them about how I wasn’t scared when he kissed me anymore. I told them about how happy I was that he had finally made the announcement. Niall and I shared in complaints of claustrophobia when fans scream and try to get as close as possible.

Our sharing and laughter hit a bit of a pause when we heard another knock on the door. I got up to let Harry in, and I received yet another giant hug. We sat back down on the ground with the other boys and kept talking. It was mostly small talk, a typical polite conversation.

Then, Harry decided to change things up when he abruptly asked,“So have you two gone at it in bed yet?”

I blushed worse than ever before.

“Is that a yes or a no?”he begged for an answer.

I nuzzled my head into Niall’s shoulder, I was so embarrassed.“I’m gonna take that as a no, mate. After all, she’s only 17..well…as of tomorrow.”

I lifted my head up to see Louis whispering something into Harry’s ear. I rolled my eyes at the two of them, then looked up to Niall to thank him for answering for me.

“Liam was my first kiss…”I admitted timidly to the boys. I shyly looked down to the ground to avoid eye contact for fear of judgement.

“We knew that, Elysa…”Louis trailed off. I had forgotten about all I had shared with them in the letter so long ago.

“oh..”

Luckily, there was a knock on the door to break up the awkwardness of the conversation. I got up to let Zayn in, receive my final hug, and shout across the apartment to Liam.

He walked out towards us, looking amazing as always in tight-ish fitting jeans and a v-neck t-shirt.“So, I was thinking of ordering pizza and watching a movie?”We all agreed that it would be a good way to just hang out and bond during the night, so Liam went ahead and ordered in the Pizza.

“Movies are over here,”Harry led me to Liam’s movie collection near the large TV that Liam still insisted was “nothing”. I couldn’t help but laugh at his collection simply because there were so many different kinds of movies. There were scary movies in case I wanted to cuddle, girly movies in case I was in a bad mood, and comedic movies, which I figured would be perfect for tonight.

“Wait, wait, wait!”Liam shouted from across the room.“I thought we could watch The Sandlot, since it’s your favorite.”I laughed, I knew every word to that movie. He set up the movie in the player and a huge booming noise came over the surround sound speakers he had set up. It took me by surprise.

The Pizza arrived just as the movie was about to begin. We all got onto the couch, cuddling together under blankets. The boys were kind enough to leave space for Liam next to me. He brought the pizza over to a small coffee table between the couch and TV, and we each grabbed a hot, cheesy slice.

He sat down beside me, filling his mouth with the cheesy goodness, and I couldn’t help but look up at him and smile. This boy meant so much to me, more than anyone has ever meant in my life before.

“What’s this movie about anyway?”Louis asked me, his mouth full of food. The boys all turned and looked at me, even Liam really didn’t have a clue. I sat there and explained the basic plot line, boys playing baseball, a dog eats the ball, etc. They still didn’t really seem to get it, but I promised them sitting here and watching would be worth it.

I was cuddled into Liam’s chest for most of the movie. The blanket covered us and Niall, who unsurprisingly ate the majority of the pizza. We got to one of the most quotable moments of the movie, and I spoke along with the small boys.

“FOR..E…VER…FOR…E…VER”

Liam looked down at me just before the third repetition, looked into my eyes and said“I will love you, for…e…ver…”

I couldn’t help but start to blush. I tried looking away shyly, but Liam wouldn’t have it. He bent his down and his lips met mine. They were soft and comforting as Liam worked his magic on me. I smiled shyly into the kiss, but Liam, once again, wouldn’t have it. He put his hand on the back of my head and pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss. His tongue brushed against my lower lip, and I aloud him access. All my nerves disappeared as our mouths and tongues worked together skillfully.

I moved my hand to his chest, feeling his amazing muscles beneath his shirt. Even with my eyes closed, I found that I knew my way around some of his body. I grabbed a hold of Liam’s shirt, pulling him closer to me. The passion in this kiss was nothing I had ever experienced before, it was amazing, it was perfect.

“Some of us are trying to eat!” I heard Niall shout from the other side of me.

“Or at least watch this movie” Louis complained.

The boys began to chuckle at mine and Liam’s moment. I tried to pull away from Liam, feeling suddenly insecure, but he pulled me back in.“Li-“I tried to interrupt him from the middle of our kiss, but he pulled me in yet again. With one last final moment of extreme passion, he finally released me.

I turned to the other boys, blushing horribly while they laughed. Harry had the cheekiest look on his face I had ever seen. I pulled the soft blanket up almost to my face in retaliation, and got comfortable leaning against Liam.

“SHHHHHH THE MOVIE!” I tried to get them to turn their attention back to the screen, but it only half worked. I looked above me to Liam’s magnificent face and smiled timidly, he returned the favor.

As I lay back, however, I could suddenly feel something hardening beneath me. It took me a moment to figure out what it was, but once I did, I turned back up to look at Liam. He gave me a questioning look, as if to ask “now?” To which I responded by patting his face lightly and turning back the other way to let him know that the answer was no.

The six of us sat there silently for the duration of the movie. When it ended I proudly asked the boys,“So was I right…or was I right?” The silence afterwards showed me that once again, I was the only person in the world that loved that movie so much.

“So now what?” Niall asked the general space around him. For a moment, no one answered him, until mischievous Louis came up with the idea to play truth or dare.

We all readjusted onto the floor in a circle and decided on a few simple rules. Someone would volunteer to go first, after them, we would go in a circle to the right. The first time you could choose either, but each turn after would be alternating truth or dare, that way it wouldn’t get too boring.

Louis volunteered to go first, and being the daredevil that he is, he chose dare. The five of us sat there for a moment, thinking of the best dares we could come up with.

The first few rounds of the game basically became strip this or strip that. By the time we got around to my second dare, we were pretty much all in our underwear. Liam was sitting next to me, his hand around my waist. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me anymore, or even look in my general direction, for fear of his bulge growing for everyone to see.

“Elysa….I dare you….”Louis thought for a long time about this one. I could see the gears working in his brain as he tried to come up with the most mischievous dare yet. He made awkward eye contact with Harry, as if using telepathy to ask if his dare was a good idea. ”I dare you to give Liam a hand job…in the other room”

I froze. I hadn’t talked to them about how I wanted to go further, so this was probably just them messing with me. But I didn’t want to do it right now. I wanted to do it on my own terms, when I was ready, when I wanted to, when it was just me and Liam.

I looked up at his face, mine clearly reflecting my worry. He looked down at me and understood.”I think it’s time to go to bed…”

The boys all groaned as stood up and silently thanked Liam for saving me from something I was not ready for.

“Fine, fine, fine, but it’s gotta happen at some point Elysa”Louis lectured me. I rolled my eyes jokingly as I headed to the bedroom to change.

Liam followed me to grab his clothes. They were going to give me some privacy, but the plan was to all cuddle together in the bed…if there was enough room. We walked down the hall silently, but the second we got into the room, Liam closed the door.

“Don’t let the lads pressure you into anything Elysa. I’m serious, it’s all about you. I wont push you further than you want to go, ever.”

I smiled up at him, thankfully, and gave him a giant hug, burying my head into his chest. This was the boy I had fallen for. He respected me so much, cared about me so much, no one had ever treated me this way before. It was such an amazing feeling.

He kissed the top of my head before grabbing his clothes and walking through the door, changing in the other room with the lads while I changed in here. I took a deep breath. I might have my doubts sometimes, but it was moments like this one that I knew I was doing the right thing.

I put on my favorite pair of sweats and my brother’s over-sized shirt once again, wanting to feel comfy as well as having a reason to tell the boys it would be “weird” to do anything with Liam. I mean, I was in my BROTHER’S shirt, I can’t do anything in that. They would have to stop making fun of me.

I put my hair up in a loose ponytail and took a deep breath as I opened the door and called the boys in. Liam had told me that they were all really great cuddlers, and I was looking forward to testing that assumed fact.

But instead of all five of them coming in together, Harry came in alone. I was a bit confused as he closed the door behind him. He must have seen the look on my face because he chuckled just a bit.

“I just wanted to say a few things to you, alone.”He told me. I was still a bit concerned, but we sat on the end of the bed together.”I’m really sorry if I said some things that were a bit…uhm…like…out of place…”He was obviously talking about asking me questions earlier and agreeing for Louis to dare me to do the hand job.

I smiled, accepting his apology and stood up to give him a giant hug. As cheeky as Harry was, he really did care about me.

I opened the door again, and called the boys for a second time. This time, all of them walking into the room.

We started to arrange ourselves in the bed meant for two, filling it with six bodies would be a bit difficult. I sat down in the very middle, telling everyone I wanted to be the center of attention on my birthday, which made them all laugh. Liam took my right side, Niall my left. Zayn was next to Niall, and Harry and Louis took the side next to Liam. I felt bad that Zayn and Louis had to be on the “outside”, only getting to cuddle with one person, but I realized someone had to do it.

We got under the blankets and got comfortable. Instead of being all over Liam, I initially cuddled with Niall. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat as the six of us had a soft conversation. Eventually, Liam, Zayn, and Louis had fallen asleep. I stayed with Niall, taking advantage of his warmth as he and I talked with Harry for a bit.

“What would you be doing back in America?”Harry asked me at one point.

There was a silence as I tried to gather my thoughts, unsure of exactly how to answer the question. Then finally, I began.”Probably doing some homework, babysitting…”I trailed off for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing.”Taking care of Julia…”

“Who?”Harry asked, genuinely interested in my life.

“My little sister. Well, she isn’t actually my sister, but she might as well be. She has a habit of getting in with the wrong crowd, doing things she shouldn’t do. I’m actually really worried about her, we haven’t talked in months.”

The boys were silent. I hadn’t thought about Julia in a long time, but now that I did think of her, I was a bit worried. I shook the thought out of my head, I would call her tomorrow if I had a chance.”What would you be doing this summer if you weren’t famous?”I asked the two of them.

They were quiet for a while too, probably gathering their thoughts. Eventually, they began to answer. They talked about their friends from their hometowns, camps they might have attended, school work they would have had. They seemed a bit upset about it to be honest. But at the end, they both agreed that they wouldn’t trade their lives now for anything. It made me feel good about the people who I was around, not regretting where they are.

After that, we were quiet. Harry’s breathing slowed and I heard it start to match up with the other sleeping boys. I could tell by Niall’s deeper, slower breathing and heartbeat that he too would be asleep soon. I moved my head at an angle to see his face, eyes closed at that moment.”Goodnight, Niall.”I whispered with a smile.

“Goodnight, Elysa” he whispered back. And with that, I rolled over to find my comfy spot on Liam’s chest, and slowly drifted to sleep.


	29. The Couch

Liam’s POV

We woke up that morning with everyone sprawled across each other. Zayn had ended up on the floor, Harry and Louis cuddling in the most awkward fashion I had ever seen, Niall facing outwards to no one and Elysa with her face in a pillow. I woke up first and looked at the clock, smiling to myself that it was finally Elysa’s birthday. I wanted this day to be perfect for her.

After wiping some of the sleep from my eyes, I managed to crawl out of the bed without disturbing the lads or Elysa. I walked across my flat to the kitchen, I had to make the best birthday breakfast ever. I started planning.

Elysa’s POV

“1…2…3…” I heard quietly, then all of a sudden,”HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELYSA!!!!”I groaned in response the boys trying to be silly and pulled the blanket back over my face.

“Wakey wakey birthday girlie!”Louis shouted into the blanket.

“OK OK!”I finally responded to them and threw the blanket off of me with a smile. It was my 17th birthday, and I was with probably my favorite people in the world at that moment. It took me a moment to get accustomed to the light and my surroundings, but when I did, the first thing I noticed was that Liam wasn’t there.

Before I even got the chance to worry or ask, I saw his figure walking down the hallway, carrying a large tray. He had made homemade waffles and brought me breakfast in bed. I blushed shyly, not knowing how to respond.

After Louis covered the thing in whipped cream, and I took my first bite, all the boys attacked it. It was gone in a matter of seconds. I couldn’t help but laugh at their whipped cream covered faces and silly, proud smiles.

“There’s more in the kitchen” Liam informed us. The boys hopped up and ran to get more food, but Liam stayed in the bed next to me.

“Good morning beautiful, happy birthday.”He kissed me lightly on the forehead and I smiled back. I could already tell that this day was going to be perfect, what ever it was that Liam had planned.

That morning went by quickly. The boys all stuffing their faces with waffles and toppings was utterly hilarious, but I had a few other things on my mind. After they left, and the apartment was filled with only Liam and I, I sat down on the couch.

I turned on the TV, channel surfing for a show I might have heard of, and landed on a children’s cartoon that vaguely resembled something I might have seen on Disney channel. I was fully entranced by the British accents all of the characters had when Liam sat down beside me.

“I have an idea of something we could watch…” He picked up the remote from beside me and promptly changed the setting so that a radio station was playing from the speakers of the TV.

“But now we can’t watch anything..” I was confused where he was going.

“We don’t need to baby, I just want to watch you.”

I blushed, as always, trying to look away. But just as he had done last night during the movie, Liam turned my face and began to kiss me. I smiled into his lips as I realized I had become so much more comfortable with this action.

Our tongues were soon intertwined and working together as calming music played in the background. Whoever had told me I just needed a bit of practice was right, I was completely confident now. I allowed Liam to explore my mouth with his tongue, and my body with his hands as I did the same to him.

He started off just rubbing my back as I felt his muscles beneath his shirt, but soon, it escalated more than ever before. He led my hands to underneath his shirt, as I kept feeling his amazing body. He lifted off his shirt while only barely losing contact with my lips. 

I pulled back for a moment just to marvel at Liam’s body. I had seen it before, but for some reason it seemed to be radiating today. I looked back into his eyes and smiled as his lips once again crashed down onto mine.

I kept feeling his upper body through the kiss, getting accustomed to him, when suddenly, I pulled back. I realized I was still wearing my brother’s shirt from the night.“We can just take that off…” He told me with a smirk. I blushed as he pulled from the bottom hem upwards, over my arms. I was wearing a sports bra from the night cuddling. This was not the first time I had been revealed in this way to him, but it was the first time that it was on purpose, and it felt ok.

I looked back at Liam after he removed my shirt and began to kiss him sweetly again. He deepened the kiss as he pushed be backwards so I was lying on the couch, him somewhat on top of me. I knew where he was trying to go with this, and I knew my own limits, so I let him continue.

His big hands began rubbing my boobs through my sports bra. He tried to take it off but I wouldn’t let him, not yet. He continued kissing me and began to rub my hips with small circles with his thumbs. It was very soothing. I could feel his length hardening against my legs, and smiled into his lips a bit because of it. He took this as a sign to go and started to slide my sweatpants down my body.

He hooked his fingers into the waistband and lifted it a bit. He separated our lips for a moment to look into my eyes as if to ask if this was ok, and I nodded in approval. He moved his entire focus to removing my pants, excruciatingly slowly. I gave him a look that told him to hurry up whatever it was he wanted to be doing, and he took the hint. 

He took my sweatpants completely off of me and threw them on the floor with our shirts. He looked at me and smiled, kissing my lips sweetly as he left his hand travel down my body. His fingers reached my panties and he traced them along the lacy top.

As if asking for permission once again, he broke our kiss and looked at me, and I again gave him the nod of approval with a little smile. He smiled back at me before going to work.

He slipped his hands beneath the fabric of my panties, without taking them completely off, and began by getting himself accustomed to my body. Even just having his fingers there at all felt amazing to me. It only got better when he found my clit and starting rubbing small circles around it.

I felt the need to moan, but I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to make noise or not. Still, a small gasp escaped my lips and Liam smiled at me, kissing where the sound hand come from. I took that as a sign that noise was more than welcomed.

He continued rubbing my clit with his thumb as he let on of his other fingers tease me up and down my opening. I let out a small whimper, wanting him to get on with the job. He got the hint and slowly put one finger inside of me. I gasped a bit, not used to the feeling at all. Liam smiled as he began to pump his finger in and out very slowly. The feeling he gave me was amazing, and I was so comfortable with him. Everything seemed perfect.

He added another finger to pump in and out of me with the first one, while still continuing to rub circles around my clit with his thumb. I was in such a state of pleasure. Then, his fingers hit a spot inside of me that made me go weak. He looked up at me, smiling, attaching his lips once again to mine. He was rather unsuccessful as my mouth was open, small moans escaping it. I felt my abdomen tighten as I reached what must have been my climax. I couldn’t even explain the feeling, it was more than I had ever experienced before.

Liam removed his fingers from my panties and looked at me, lying there, panting and trying to catch my breath. A proud smile escaped his mouth. I giggled as he gave me a questioning look, as if to ask “my turn?” I obliged and after catching my breath a bit more, sat up.

I leaned in and gave him a deep and passionate kiss as he began to lower his pants.“I don’t know how…” I started.

“It’s ok” He whispered as he took my hand in his. He led it to his bulge that was easy to see through his tight boxers, and instructed me “rub”.I did as I was told, lightly rubbing the spot. It was intimidating to actually feel him in full, and I was worried I was doing it wrong. But the look in his face told me otherwise, as he hissed “more”.I followed his instruction and rubbed with more pressure as a small hiss escaped from his mouth.

I looked at him questioningly. He smiled and once more took my hand in his, leading it to the waistband of his boxers. I slowly pulled them down, releasing his fully hardened cock. I kind of just stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do. I was intimidated by it.

Liam saw the look on my face and chuckled. He must have been proud that he could bring that sort of intimidation to a girl, but he didn’t show the pride. He took my hand and placed it near the bottom of his shaft, his hand over mine. I grabbed on lightly as he used his own arm to help me rub him up and down, slowly. After a moment, he let go, allowing me to continue without his help. I looked at him, worried I would be doing something wrong, again, and he just smiled with encouragement.

I knew I wanted him to feel the same pleasure that he had made me feel, so I tried my best, knowing he would correct me if something was wrong. I continued the rubbing pattern he had started, up and down, up and down, up and down. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto his shoulders. I was in full control now.

I reached the top of cock and rubbed it with my thumb a bit, feeling the precum lubricate it. I was a little unsure of the stickiness, but I figured it would only help him feel even more pleasure, so I continued. I picked up my pace, going a little bit faster. I could see his climax building, I was unsure of what to do when it hit.

“Get me that towel!” Liam was able to pant out between breaths. I hurried across the room to get the towel for him as he continued my previous job. He must have known I didn’t know what to do when he hit his high. I handed him the towel and took over where his hand was, continuing my pace. Then, finally, a huge moan escaped him as he released his fluids all over the towel.

He sat there, panting, trying to catch his breath as I just marveled in the way he looked. He was fully exposed to me, and completely comfortable with it.

As his breath came back to him, Liam looked at me and began to kiss me again. He once again pushed me over so I was lying down. This time, he kissed down my body. I was unsure of what he planning on doing, so I let him continue. He reached the top of my panties and continued to leave wet kisses on my body. He looked up at me as he hooked his fingers in the waistband, mouth still just above it, asking for permission.

It took me a moment to realize what he was trying to do. But the second that I figured it out, I shook my head no and panicked. I wasn’t ready for that, not yet at least, not now.

Liam saw the worried look on my face and came back up to kiss me sweetly.”It’s ok,”He said, “I can wait.”

I smiled, feeling confident that even in a state like this Liam knew how to respect my boundaries.”Thank you”I told him. He allowed me to sit up, and I just sort of looked into his eyes for a moment before looking away, trying to help my full stream of consciousness come back to me.

Liam reached down to grab his boxers and slid them back over his body, followed by his pants. He handed me my own sweatpants as he allowed me to cover myself back up.

We sat there for a moment, mostly clothed. I cuddled my head into his chest like I normally did, but this time it was just on his skin. I smiled, but Liam had other things going through his head.

“How will I know when you are ready for more?” He asked me. I could tell he wanted to go further, what ever the reason. I took a breath and thought for a moment.

“When I know you aren’t trying something just because it’s my birthday, and when I don’t say no.”

He kissed the top of my head and we sat there for a few minutes longer.“It’s not just because it’s your birthday,”he told me.”I wanted more because I want you more. I want to know more of your body, I want you to feel more pleasure.”

I stayed silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next. It finally came to my lips as I told him,“I’m just not ready yet.”

He accepted that completely, kissing my forehead again. We sat together in silence because nothing needed to be said. We both knew how the other one felt and we were ok with that. We savored the moment together.

Soon, he kissed my head again, instructing me sweetly that I should go take a shower to clean up. I obliged, and walked down the hall.


	30. The Party

Elysa’s POV

The past few weeks had flown by. Living with Liam had been interesting ever since I let him go a little bit further. I could see by the look in his eyes when we had passionate moments that he wanted to do it again. I would let him sometimes, if I felt it was right, but so far, I hadn’t let him do anything new. It wasn’t that I didn’t want it, I was just a bit scared, and we had impeccably bad timing. 

Still though, I felt safe with Liam. I knew if anything happened to me, well it wouldn’t, because he would be there to stop it or fix it. He never undermined me either. After living so independently at home, I was used to my freedoms, my own opinions, my life being separate from those around me. And although we lived together, he still made sure I had that freedom, and I made sure he did too.

I was a little bit scared though. Liam’s birthday was quickly approaching, and I felt as if I was obligated to give myself completely up to him. I loved him, I cared about him, and I knew he felt the same way about me, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of sex yet. I was only 17, I only just had my first kiss, everything was happening so fast. 

I might not be able to give him all of my body, but I could give him everything else I had. He had made my birthday amazing, and I wanted to do the same for him. But not the way one would expect. I used to always think that being famous and having huge parties sounded like so much fun, but he and I had been to several this summer, and we were both exhausted from them. 

I wanted to show him not only how much I cared, but how much I appreciate him and everything he does. The first thing I did was call Niall, and tell him my plan. He agreed and gathered the rest of the boys. 

It was the day before Liam’s birthday. The boys had convinced him that they were taking him out to dinner for his birthday celebration so he could spend the full day tomorrow with me. He bought it, perfect.

While they were out, I invited over his sisters. I had met them several times this summer, but I was excited to spend more time with Ruth and Nicola. They were both older than me, but just like Gemma, it didn’t seem to matter too much. 

We spent the night covering the place in toy story and batman decorations, comparing it to childhood birthday parties we used to go to. We didn’t order a fancy cake, instead I went to the supermarket and picked up a cheap ice cream cake. Liam was going to have the birthday party I always wanted to give my boyfriend, on a budget that I could afford. 

Around 10 pm, Liam and the boys walked through the door. He was expecting me to be in bed and asleep already, so he shushed them as they stepped inside. He turned on the lights to see me standing there with his sisters on either side, smiling. Liam was in shock. He looked around at his decorations and I saw a smile starting to form on his face. 

The smile got bigger and bigger and bigger as he ran towards me, picking me up and twirling me around in a giant hug, only putting me back down with a sweet kiss on my forehead. “Thank you” he managed to whisper through his smile. He proceeded to run around the apartment in circles, ecstatic about each of the decorations his sisters and I had found.

We spent that night, the eight of us, eating the cheep cake, laughing. It was a great night. I got to bond with his sisters, the boys, and of course, Liam. 

It was nearly 3am before everyone left and it was just Liam and I in the apartment. We crawled into bed together, wearing comfy clothes. I put my hair up in a pony tail to keep it out of my way while I tried to sleep. We lay there together for a moment, then I turned over to looked at him. “Happy birthday, Liam” I kissed him sweetly before turning over.

Liam wasn’t finished with the night yet though. He put his arm around my waist, pulling himself in close. He whispered into my ear ”I thought we could try something new tonight” I knew exactly what he meant. I swallowed deep into my throat, it was hard, but I wanted to say no.

“I’m not ready Liam.”

“We don’t have to go all the way, I just want a little more” He nibbled on my ear a bit, and I giggled. 

“Liam, not now…” I giggled. But he persisted. ”Liam,” I said rather harshly, ”not now.”

“Why not?” His demeanor changed. For a moment, he seemed irritated, but eventually he leveled out his head. ”I know literally everything about you, and you know literally everything about me. I met your brother, you met my sisters. We have nothing left to hide. We’ve been sleeping in the same bed all summer. Babe, there is nothing to hide.” 

I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to hide, I just don’t think I’m ready. I love you Liam, I really do. And I want it to happen, just not now. Please.’ 

 

I looked into Liam’s eyes and held his face close to mine, “please Liam” I begged him to understand.

“Ok” He told me. ”We will do this right”

I couldn’t help but know why he felt so rushed. His birthday meant the summer was ending. It meant I would have to go back to school soon, in California, thousands of miles away from London. Not that London would even matter, since Liam would be going on tour again. 

I squeezed my eyes tight as I turned over, and tried to fall asleep.


	31. The First Time

Elysa’s POV

It had been three days. Three days since Liam’s birthday. Three days since he asked me for more. Three days since I had said no. I had broken his heart, and I knew it. But I had to stay true to myself. I didn’t feel ready.

To be honest, it had been an awkward and tense three days. We both felt it and we both knew it. The other boys could tell something was up too. I think Niall knew exactly what happened. Between what I would say to him and what I’m sure Liam told him, he had to know.

And to make it even worse, Liam was going to have to buy my plane ticket. My ticket to take me back to California so I could go back to school while he was on a world tour. And he had to buy that ticket for me to leave tomorrow.

I sat in the back seat of the black car with the boys after an interview. I had become strangely comfortable in the back seat of that car and with those boys. It was strange that I had so easily become accustomed to this life, but I had.

The six of us sat there together on this day, laughing about the flirty interviewer that was trying to get close to Harry. But eventually the laughter was dying down and everyone started getting into their own thing. Zayn was staring out the window and the other boys seemed fully engaged in their phones. Liam and I were still holding hands, but we were quiet and looking in opposite directions. All of a sudden, Harry broke the silence.

“Are you excited to go back to school Elysa?”

The question took all of us by surprise. To be honest, I was excited for Junior year. I had signed up for classes I really wanted and I really missed my brother. But being away from Liam was going to be difficult. And I was scared that people would start treating me differently. I had fallen in love with a boy who happened to be famous, but I, as a person, hadn’t changed a bit.

I looked over at Liam and took a deep breath. “A little. It’s going to be hard being away from this one,” I looked up at Liam with a small smirk on my face, hoping he would react, but he didn’t. I continued talking to Harry, “and from you boys of course. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a group of friends before.”

At my comment, all five boys turned their attention back to me. I looked in each of their eyes that said that they cared for me. I could tell they were going to miss me too. I smiled a bit, and so did they. We had a mutual understanding of what was happening.

Liam turned and looked at me, kissed my forehead, and kept eye contact with me. He said nothing, but we both knew what he was thinking. We only had a little bit of time left together like this, and it wasn’t worth it to stay mad at each other. Just like that, the awkwardness left, and my Liam was back. I smiled and grabbed his arm as I cuddled into his chest, finding the warm spot that I loved. Harry, Niall, Louis, and Zayn all smiled as they saw us return to normal.

And although I was cuddled up with Liam, Niall and Louis had most of my attention. They knew how to make me laugh, how to make me happy, how to make me forget about how soon I would be leaving. This was exactly how I wanted it to be. I was safe and comfortable, protected by Liam, while talking to two of my best friends in the entire world. It was another one of those perfect moments that I never wanted to end.

But it did end as the car pulled up the apartments that I had begun to call home for the past two months or so. I looked up at Liam, meaning to thank him for the wonderful moment, but he must have taken my look to mean something different.

“Go.” I was confused at Liam’s word. “Go spend some time with the boys. I have some things I want to do in the flat alone. I’ll come get you in a bit.”

I honestly had no idea what he was going to be doing, but I could tell he wanted me to be happy and spend time with my new best friends. I kissed him on the cheek as I hopped out of the car and grabbed onto Louis and Niall’s hands. They led me into Louis and Harry’s apartment as I smiled back to Liam and saw him walk into his apartment.

Liam’s POV

I walked into my flat and took a sigh. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I knew what the outcome would be. We only had a little over a day left together, and I told her I would wait. But there was no more time left to wait. I told her we would do it right, and we were going to. I was going to make sure of it.

Elysa’s POV

Harry opened the door to their apartment and Louis picked me up bridal style. I could help but giggle. “stop!” I teased Louis as he placed me carefully on the couch.

“You aren’t going to tell Liam to stop when he carries you off tonight, are you?” He teased at me. The other boys laughed as well as Louis went into the kitchen to grab a drink.

“What do you mean?” I was honestly confused.

“You can’t tell me you don’t know Elysa.” I stared at Zayn blankly as he laughed off my apparent oblivious state.

“You are SO getting some tonight Elysa!” Niall nearly screamed at me. I could tell the boys thought it was the funniest thing as Harry thrust his hips almost as strongly as Louis tended to do in concert.

I was incredibly shocked. I mean, it made sense. I was leaving tomorrow and I knew that Liam wanted it. But I wasn’t sure if I was actually ready for it or not. I knew I looked distressed, but I didn’t even care. This was a big deal. Maybe not to them, but to me.

Louis came back into the room with five bears and a lemonade. They all knew that even I couldn’t drink. Even though the drinking age was younger here, I was still too young. And I had no desire what so ever to get drunk.

“Look Elysa, Liam loves you. And it’s been killing him to wait this long, I know, he’s told me. It’s not because he likes it so much, it’s because he likes YOU so much. Liam and I both feel that you can’t really show a girl how much you love her until you sleep with her. It’s a whole new level of connection and love and caring. I think you will understand once it happens. Liam doesn’t see you as a sex object, he wants sex because he wants to show you how much you mean to him.”

I was in shock. I had never thought about it like that. That there was a feeling Liam might have toward me that couldn’t be expressed in any other way. I think that was the moment that I finally understood why he had felt so heartbroken each time I told him no. Suddenly, my heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

“We also both think it’s really fun”

There was the Louis I knew and loved! He couldn’t finish this conversation without making a comment like that. I blushed a little and shoved him for making such a cheeky comment. But I knew everything he was saying was right. Even about it being fun.

“But then why did he tell me to hang out with you guys while he is alone?”

They looked at me like I was crazy. There was something I was still oblivious to that I really shouldn’t be at this point. “He’s making everything perfect for you.” Niall finally admitted to me. It all made sense.

“Do….do I need to anything?” I stuttered to the boys. They looked at each other, there seemed to be an answer that none of them wanted to say, but eventually I got the picture. “I’ll call Gemma?” It was half a statement and half a question as they nodded in approval.

I walked into the backroom of the apartment and called up Gemma. I explained everything to her. What the boys had said would be happening, and she just laughed. Apparently everybody knew but me. She told me twitter was going crazy with trends. That made me ridiculously embarrassed.

About five minutes later, Gemma showed up. She didn’t even knock on the door, just walked right in and to the back room where she somehow knew I would be. She ran up and gave me a hug. Apparently this was something that sisters would bond over, I had no idea.

She opened up the bag in her hand, showing me the sweet looking apparel she had bought for me in my size from her favorite British lingerie store. I giggled. I had never worn anything special. I didn’t think it mattered. After all, wouldn’t Liam just be taking it off? But Gemma assured me that it would make Liam go wild, that it would make him happy. So reluctantly, I agreed to take it.

She left the room to give me privacy as I put on the new fabric. It was more frivolous than anything I had ever thought of buying for myself before. It made me feel good though. It gave me a bit more confidence. I put my regular clothes back on over it like Gemma had instructed. Not more than five minutes later, I got a text from Liam.

ready for you love (: x

I showed it to Gemma and she giggled, walking out of the apartment and saying buy to the other boys. I stood there, feeling awkward as the boys looked at me with cheeky smiles. Louis used his hand to silently shoo me out and up to Liam, and I did as I was told.

I walked quietly to the door of the apartment. I didn’t even have coherent thoughts going through my head as I opened the door and my mouth dropped.

I can’t even attempt to describe what the apartment looked like, but it was perfect. I blushed, as always, and Liam took me into his arms. He kissed me deeply and passionately with his hands pulling me in from around my waist. I closed my eyes. It was such a perfect moment.

Without missing a beat, Liam led me over to the couch, where we sat. He smiled through the kiss as he lifted my shirt up and above my head. It was then he leaned back and noticed what I was wearing. He smiled cheekily. “You knew?” he asked me with a smile. “Someone might have tipped me off…” I smiled as I pulled of his shirt and begged his mouth to reconnect with mine.

Our tongues explored each other’s mouths as our hand explored each other’s bodies. We knew what we were feeling much better than that first time I had let him take my shirt off. I smiled and giggled a bit into the kiss, and he did the same. Liam proceeded to push me over onto my back on the couch. Now that he was on top of me, I knew what was going to happen. He slowly pulled my pants down my legs and stopped to look into my eyes, asking for permission as always. This time, I didn’t stop him.

I let him continue as he removed his own pants, spending far too long fiddling with his belt. I smiled at him as I moved my hands to help. He seemed surprised at my confidence, but I was surprised too. I had no idea what I was doing. But he got the pants off and slid them to the floor.

His lips once again crashed down onto mine. There was so much passion in the moment, I couldn’t even begin to describe it. It was perfect. Liam reach around my back and unhooked my bra. When the clasp came undone, he looked at me. Last time he tried this I had said no. But this time, I helped him take it off. He continued looking into my eyes as we worked together to remove the article of clothing. I nodded at him, telling him to go ahead and everything was ok.

He gave me a quick kiss on my lips before moving his attention down to my newly exposed breasts. He rubbed them and played with them, he kissed them, and even nibbled on them making me giggle. There was nothing awkward about what he was doing, it was just very new to me.

When I could tell he had felt satisfied with his performance, I nodded my head again. He began kissing down my body, moving his head lower and lower until he was kissing and slightly nibbling just above my panties. Without looking up or losing contact with his lips to my skin, he curled his fingers beneath the waistband and pulled them off of my body.

He continued kissing around my inner upper thighs. I knew what was going to happen and I was excited. Secretly, I had always wanted this. I think Liam felt my urgency as he smiled, only prolonging the gift he had wanted for so long to give me. He began with his fingers, like he had done before. And although it felt great, I knew there was more he was holding back on, and he knew that I was going to let him do it.

Eventually, he lowered his head in to where I craved his touch the most. I was soaking wet, and he knew it from his fingers. He began to lick up and down my opening. Slowly, too slowly. I found myself with my hands through his hair, pushing his face closer to me. I was begging him for more, and he knew it.

He grabbed on to my hips and pulled me closer to him, working his best. I let out a few moans that I just could not hold back and immediately blushed, feeling quite embarrassed. “Do that again. I liked the sound” He spoke into me. The vibrations from his speech making my clit respond sending waves of pleasure through my body as another moan left my lips. I could feel Liam smile.

Soon, he sat up, allowing me to sit up as well. I reached for his boxers, I figured he would expect me to return the favor that he had just given me. “no.” he grabbed my hands and pulled them away from him. “This is all about you.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I laid back down on my back. Liam removed his own boxers and walked quickly into the bedroom. I heard him open and close a drawer. He walked out fiddling with a small plastic package. I was relieve that he had the sense to use a condom and I wouldn’t have to stop at an inconvenient moment to ask him about it.

He opened the package and took my hand, guiding me, teaching me how to put it onto his long shaft. It looked amazing. He was already fully hard. I had touched it several times by now, but I was a little apprehensive to how it would fit inside of me. After all, I had heard that sex could hurt the first time.

He saw the look in my face and calmed me by stroking my cheek and moving my hair behind my ears. He lipped “I love you” to me and I smiled. I gave him the nod of approval.

Liam had his left hand next to my head and used his right to guide himself to my entrance. I was nervous and scared as I squeezed onto his arm next to my face. He was careful as he pushed his tip inside of me. I bit my lip, trying not to let out a scream of pain as he slowly entered me further. I could feel a tear forming in my eye as he pushed himself nearly all the way in and paused. He wanted to let me adjust to him.

He saw the distress in my face, and leaned down to kiss me. He assured me it would be ok, and he waited for my facial expression to change. Eventually it did, as the feeling he gave me transformed from pain to pleasure. It was the most extreme sense of pleasure I had ever experienced. When Liam saw the look in my eyes, he continued.

He put his other hand next to my head to support himself as he began thrusting in and out of me. It felt amazing. It was indescribable. I screamed out in pleasure time and time again as he hit every spot perfectly.

Soon, I could feel my stomach tightening. I knew what was about to happen, and Liam did as well from the look in my face. His own face told me it was ok, to let go when I needed to. And a few thrusts later, both of us did.

Liam collapsed on top of me as the two of us tried to catch our breaths. We lay there as he continued kissing me, thanking me, telling me how much he loved me. It was a perfect moment, and I could not have asked for anything better.


End file.
